Unchained Melody
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Poor Don was suffering from insomnia and made the choice to go out late at night to walk around and tire himself out. He never expected to come across Aarien Rymer- an beautiful musician whom could play the most haunting melodies. Suddenly Don finds himself with a possible new friend and an even more frightening obsession. Don/OC R&R. longer chp 20!
1. Chapter 1

He couldn't sleep again.

Not after another long twelve hours of his day job plus the extra four hours his two older brothers had spent making the lair look like a war zone in a foreign country. The loud sounds of their shouting, cursing, and breaking things had already driven their elderly father to his private chambers to meditate and his younger brother, Mikey, to hide in his room in an effort to stay out of the crosshairs.

And what about him, you ask? He'd donned his bulky long jacket and grabbed his hat and headed for the surface despite his tiredness he knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep anytime soon.

Walking down the darkened sidewalks of the local park usually soothed his already frayed nerves. Which had been his plan from the moment he stepped out onto the street and pulled his jacket more closely around himself as he looked around. The street across from Central Park was unusually empty tonight despite it still being fairly early, no more than nine pm.

And it was warm out tonight too. Unusual for late fall weather.

Crossing the street, he headed for his favorite spot in the hopes that he could flop down in the lush green grass and stare up at the sky for a little while. Who knew, maybe if he day dreamed for a bit he might get tired enough to actually sleep more than an hour tonight.

Walking along he noted various things, the crunching of the multi colored leaves under his feet, the slight breeze that picked up the hem of his jacket and caused it to tangle around his legs. The chirping of crickets, and what sounded like the faint sound of a violin coming from just up ahead-

Wait a second, was his mind playing tricks on him like it usually did when it was sleep deprived or was he really hearing something?

He stopped walking for a second and tilted his head and listened, unconsciously sucking in a breath and holding it, his ear slits straining for a moment before detecting the delicate sound again. He stood there for a moment, listening before turning to the left and following the sound out of curiosity. Wanting to sit down and listen to whoever was playing for just a while more.

He reached a small clearing around a lake and stopped as he saw a young, petite girl wearing a long sleeved black shirt and dark jeans. Her back was to him, so he could see nothing of her face. But her hair- Jesus it had to be one of the most _unique_ colors he had ever seen before. It was the most beautiful blend of ash blonde, pink, fuschia.

The long strands must have been mid back length, and were currently up in a twist held into place by a hair clip. Some of the strands slipping from their clip to flirt with the nape of the mystery woman's neck. Moving to a bench just a few feet away from where he was hidden, he sat down and made himself comfortable while trying not to startle or scare the woman.

Her music was just too enchanting to have end so soon.

The song that she was playing seemed to stop and for a moment he felt disappointment well up, and wondered if she was finished for the night when she started to play again, this time the music was faster, almost playful and he sighed and leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes and let his guard down a tad bit.

For the moment content to listen and enjoy her company while she was still unaware of him.

(*****************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Aarien Quinn Rymer let the last notes from her violin die down to nothing and slowly dropped her arms until they were at her side and stood there, drinking in the beauty around her. New York City at night was much like the country, only ten times brighter and full of more buildings and people. Not that she minded any of that. It was a small price to pay to finally be free of her family and be on her own.

It was so much better than how her family spunged off of her talents and exploited her at every turn. It was better than being forced into a car by her dad or brothers, all of them wanting money to feed their addictions and their wives addictions.

It was more liberating here. Less suffocating.

And city life here was so cool! She never ran out of places to check out. The cafes, the restaurnts, the book stores, the music stores. The city even had stages all around it where people could preform at random. Why just last night she had preformed in a bar. A bar of all places! She was still so giddy that she could have shrieked.

She loved it.

Loved the life that she had chosen for herself. She loved going before thousands of people and playing her music. She loved getting requests from other musicians asking her to perform duets with them. She loved the cozy little condo she had half a mile away from the park that she was lucky enough to call her home. She loved hearing her music on CD's in music stores and writing new songs in her spare time.

She sighed and turned, casting a glance towards the bench a few feet away where she saw someone in a bulky brown jacket and hat, sitting, and wondered when she had gained an audience. Looking down at her shoes for a moment so that she wouldn't be caught staring, she waited to see if her visitor would say something.

And sure enough, after a heartbeat or two- he did.

"Please don't stop," His words were soft and gentle, his tone a rumbling purr vibrating in his chest. It was such a fascinating sound that she took several steps towards him, wanting to hear that sound again when he gave her a strong but firm,_ "Don't." _Causing her to flinch slightly and stop dead in her tracks just a foot or so from him.

She couldn't really see his features, all that she could see aside from the jacket and hat were shadows. But she did manage to see his eyes when she dropped down to a squat in front of him and propped her chin on her palm. He had such lovely eyes.

The unwavering golden brown stared her down fearlessly with a small amount of wariness in them as he shifted in his seat a little bit so that he was leaning in as he said in a partially teasing tone. "It's rude to stare."

She smiled at him. She knew that it was rude to stare but she couldn't help herself. His eyes had some sort of mezmerizing ability that she wasn't quite immune too. She flushed a little bit and set her violin and bow down on the ground next to her and then looked back to him and gave him an awkward smile as she replied. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that you have such pretty eyes..."

He fell silent and shifted a little bit more on the bench, as if uncomfortable and she got the impression that she had either shocked or embarrassed him. _Maybe_ _both_, she thought as he stopped moving around and looked down at her again before asking, "Why are you out so late?"

"I work at night. So I might as well practice at night too."

"But you know that it's dangerous, right?" Her visitor sounded a tad bit irked by her being out so late, and she couldn't help but smile.

"You sound like my manager. He's alway's telling me not to get mugged or shot up or shived in the kidney-"

"All good pieces of advice to follow. I hear that getting shived in the kidney is like being shot in the stomach- It's supposed to be really painful."

"If you say so- If you don't mind me turning you're question back on you; what are you doing out so late?"

"Can't sleep."

Aarien made an 'ah' expression and slowly stood back up to her full height. "Now it makes sense."

"You mean the reason I told you not to stop playing your music?"

"Yup. Insomniacs love me." She said jokingly, sensing that her joke would make him laugh. He chuckled so she was only a little bit disappointed as she focused on the warm sound of amusement.

"If insomniacs love you then being as I'm out this late and talking to you- I must worship you." He said gently. She shrugged as she grinned and said.

"Stranger things have happened."

"That's true," He said wryly before saying, "My name is Donatello Hamoto. But my friends and family call me Don or Donny. What's your name my goddess?"

"Aarien. Aarien Rymer."

He made a little half bowing motion with his head, indicating that he had heard her and said, "Aarien, huh? That's a pretty name. Peculiar- but pretty nevertheless."

Aarien smiled at him but didn't say anything for a moment as she watched his gaze waver for a moment as he rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Ugh...god I'm tired-" He said as he dropped his hand back to his lap. Taking that as her cue she picked up her violin and bow and took up her earlier stance and said,

"Well, let's see what we can do about that, hm. What would you like to hear?"

"Anything is fine as long as your the one playing it." He replied as she gave him another innocent smile as the first notes of her song filled the air. He leaned back in his seat again, intent on enjoying her preformance.


	2. Chapter 2

Don sat on the bench listening to Aarien play her music for what must have been the better part of an hour in a half before his eye lids grew so heavy that he couldn't keep them open anymore. His eyes slid closed and his head fell back just a bit to rest on the back of the bench as he let out a soft snore.

His last coherent thought was that he hoped he made it home before anyone discovered him.

Aarien had just ended her last song when she heard the soft snore coming from the man on the bench, and softly smiled to herself. The poor thing really must have been tired. Perhaps even more than he had let on.

_I should wake him and send him on his way. _She thought as she set her violin and bow down on the ground and then moved closer to the bench, intent only on making sure that he woke up and got home. She'd never forgive herself if she just walked off and something happened to him while he slept.

Moving as quietly as she could so that she didn't startle him, she got right up along his left side and started to reach out to shake him awake when she noticed something..._off_ about her new friend, and paused to look at him a little bit closer.

At first she couldn't believe her eyes, a dark purple mask stretched across his eyes, and olive green colored skin with light brown freckles dotted his face. _An inhuman face. _Aarien thought briefly in alarm. Honestly she had never seen anything like this before. Sure she'd heard horror stories of aliens, mutants and so on. But she had never thought she'd live long enough to possibly meet one.

So to say that she was a little shell shocked would be an understatement.

If she were a less accepting person it would be entirely possible that she might have run screaming into the night. But she wasn't a less accepting person. She tended to look beyond the physical appearances of others and see them for who they really were.

And right now all she saw was a really, _really_ tired non human guy. Someone who had held an intellegent conversation with her and had laughed at her joke earlier. Someone who probably had a family worried about him, or a pet waiting for him to come home and cuddle with it.

Someone who loved her music and deserved a chance.

Looking around to make sure that they were totally alone, she leaned down- pausing for a second to make sure that her hair wouldn't get in the way and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder and hesitated at what she felt underneath. Dear lord his bulky jacket hid arms the size of her thighs. She imagined that he must lift weights or something.

The sheer thought of the strength his jacket hid almost frightened her.

He shifted in his sleep, his soft snores pausing and for a moment she almost jerked herself back away from him. Not wanting to get caught by hands that could possibly turn violent and rip her apart if he felt provoked. However he settled back down easily enough, his head turned a little bit her way until she could feel his skin pressed against the back of her hand.

It felt a rough and a bit leathery, but not in a bad way.

Leaning down the rest of the way, she started to kiss him on the cheek when his hand came up and hooked around her nape and in a lightening fast move she couldn't follow, she found herself in his lap with his hand wrapped around her neck. "What are you doing?" Donny's voice growled in her ear in irritation.

"I-I w-w-was j-j-just t-t-trying t-t-to w-wake y-you." Aarien stammered, her earlier playful and lighthearted demeanor gone. Replaced by an unfamiliar feeling of fear and something else. Betrayal? No, that wasn't it. Whatever it was sent chills down her spine.

Could she possibly be excited?

She heard Donny inhale deeply then make a hissing sound before jumping to his feet, taking her with him, he set her on her feet as far from him as he possibly could and glared at her with those golden brown eyes that now looked more gold than brown. "Did you see?" He asked in a harsh tone, watching her as she flinched.

His expression darkened and he made a low growling sound in the back of his throat and said bitterly, "Why am I bothering to ask such a stupid question? Of course you saw- So lets hear it." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her as if she were a bug he'd like nothing more than to stomp on. Aarien took two small steps back from him, the look on his face frightening her more than knowing that he wasn't human.

He looked like he wanted to kill her, and she didn't understand what she had done that was so wrong. He tracked her movement with his unblinking, predatory gaze and she felt the need to drop to the ground and curl into a ball and cry. "Come on Aarien, lets hear it. Scream. Call me a freak. A monster-"

"I'd_ really_ rather not if you don't mind. You seem pissed enough as things stand."

"Are you trying to be cute?" He all but snarled at her. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she quickly shook her head no. No, no, no, no! She wasn't trying to be cute. She wasn't trying to be anything! She just didn't want him to be mad at her anymore.

"I'm sorry!" She cried as tears welled up in her eyes.

He got a funny look on his face and started to drop his arms back to his sides as he sighed._ Shit. _Donny thought as he regarded the young woman. He hadn't meant to scare her like this, it was just he was so tired that his lack of rest was finally screwing with his personality. Making him act harsher than he usually did. And it didn't help things any that he had been afraid that she would scream upon seeing his face and realizing that he wasn't human.

Taking several deep breaths he reached out and lightly grasped her wrists in his hands and pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her while she cried. Really he had no idea of what else to do. He'd seen Casey and his brothers do this for their family friend April when she was crying, so maybe if he held her until she calmed down- then things would be okay.

Aarien put up a struggle at first in an effort to escape him. A small one. No doubt because he had snarled at her like a rabid animal and hurt her feelings. But after a few minutes she simply buried her face against his jacket and sobbed quietly as he awkwardly rubbed her back.

"Christ, Aarien... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snarl at you like that. It's just-"

She lifted her head a little bit and looked at him through red rimmed eyes. "People react badly to what they don't understand." She said softly, startling him a little bit. He hadn't expected her to understand where he was coming from. But maybe he should have since she hadn't screamed or run from him like he was a demon or something.

He nodded his head, a sad expression on his face as she wiped her eyes with the back of one hand as she said. "Well, I'm not other people. I don't care what you look like. You're a person. _End of story_."

He studied her for a second, an disbelieving look on his face before he gave her a wane smille. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, I guess that will have to be good enough for me. How about I walk you home?"

"I have a better idea, give me a second to get my things and I'll walk _you_ home."


	3. Chapter 3

Don's analytical mind was usually one that caught on quick, but for some reason this woman- this human- was throwing him. He'd never had someone walk him home before and though it was a rather pleasant, if not mundane thing to do, he couldn't help but feel a strange sort of excitment at having a pretty young woman walk with him.

Sure he couldn't allow her to go into the sewers and walk him completely home, that was a given. But that didn't matter to him. For once he had company outside of his immediate family. Someone who knew his secret and didn't care aside from April, and Casey.

To say that he was intrigued would be an understatment.

He was many things (exhaustion aside) nervous, a mite confused... And then there was the deeper feelings shadowing his thoughts. Protectiveness. God he'd never felt such protectiveness towards anyone but his father and brothers. Then there was the more confusing possessivness he felt as they walked. If any Purple Dragons were to jump out at them and try to take Aarien from his side- he'd slaughter them without a second thought.

Glancing down at her from under his hat, he noted that she appeared to be as nervous as he was the closer they got to their destination. Mostly because she was walking through a neighborhood full of thieves, murderers and rapists. All of whom were probably watching them from the shadows. But she didn't need to know that.

Lifting his arm, he wrapped it around her slender shoulders and pulled her up against his side and said in a low tone, "Don't worry. I won't leave you alone until you're safely home."

"But I'm walking you home-" She pointed out. As if he could have forgotten. He gave her a smile in the dark, a mere slash of pearly white teeth and breathed in her ear, causing her to shiver a little bit and flush as he said.

"Do you really think I'd go home and leave you walking the streets in this neighborhood? Even if you managed to get home safely tonight there would be no guarantee that you would remain safe. No, I think I'll pretend to go home then follow you anyways so that I can drop by at random and check on you."

Aarien tipped her head back a little bit to look at him, her expression questioning as she asked, "Would that be wise?"

Don considered her question for all of a second before replying, "No. No, it wouldn't be wise-" But for some reason the thought of seeing her whenever he wanted without the interferance of his brothers made him insanely happy. "But I'm going to do it anyways. If you don't mind, that is." He said, his golden brown eyes locking with her own. His gaze probing. Almost desperate.

He _needed_ this. The slight contact. The conversation and bad jokes. The realization should have shocked him to his very core. Should have forced him to shove her aside and disappear into the night. But for some strange reason he felt oddly rooted in place. Waiting patiently for her to make her choice.

"I'm not sure how much you'll get to see me-" She finally said after a heartbeat or two and he let out the breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. "But I don't mind if you stop by and visit from time to time."

He smiled again, this time his lips curved up, gently. "Thank you, Aarien."

"Uh-huh, no problem. But just so you know- I'm a black belt in karate. So the second you piss me off expect to walk with a limp for a while."

Don got a startled look on his face for a second, his mind going back to a little while ago when he had made her cry. If she had a black belt in karate, why hadn't she used it on him then? She had obviously been upset and scared. Perfect conditions for using karate.

He opened his mouth to ask her why she hadn't used it when she said, "It's not something that I like to advertise, Donatello. Advertising you're strengths is a damn good way to let others know how to counter them and hurt you..._badly_."

He closed his mouth with an audible click of his teeth and processed what she had just said and he had to admit, she was right. "How many people know that you know karate?" He asked curiously as he heard a tin can from the alley across the street being crushed under the heavy weight of a foot.

Don tensed and looked over his shoulder and made a low growling sound and maneuvered Aarien into an darkened alleyway and pinned herr against a brick wall and waited as he pulled out his shell cell and dialed Leo's number then handed it to Aarien as he pressed himself as close to her as he could without crushing her and buried his face against her neck and said in a rough tone.

"Listen to me very carefully, in just a second or so a group of people are going to come around the corner of the building. I want you to stay back, call the number I just dialed and ask for someone called Leo. Tell him where we are, what's going on and for the love of god... _Don't. Let. Anyone. See. Your. Face." _

Don felt her nod just as the sound of crazed laughter reached their ears from a few feet away and he stepped back and let Aarien go just enough to thrust her small body behind his own as someone said, "Yo bro, you looked like you were having fun with your honey. So we thought we'd have fun with her too. Who knows mabe once we've had our fill of her and have your money- we may leave you alone."

_Liars!_ Don thought as he lifted a hand up to take his hat off so that it wouldn't get damaged as he vaguely heard Aarien whispering behind him into the shell cell.

"H-Hello, is this Leo?"


	4. Chapter 4

Leo was reading in his room after his latest fight with Raph.

He had finished the fifth chapter of Jules Vernes 20000 Leagues under the Sea, a book that he had grabbed from one of Don's bedroom shelves before retreating to his room in an effort to keep from going into Raph's gym and beating the hell out of him. He supposed that he had been reading for about two hours maybe two in a half hours.

Making the time somewhere close to two or three in the am. Sighing, he turned the next page and started to read, but wound up reading the same paragraph four times before lowering the book and rubbing his temples in irritation.

_Jesus_, at this rate he wasn't going to calm down or get anywhere. Picking up the book again he tried reading it for the fifth time and let his head drop back onto his pillow as it finally hit him.

The book was really boring. How the hell did Don read crap like this and stay sane? Leo wondered irritably as he snapped the the book closed and decided to try and get some sleep. Setting the book on his bedside table, and reached for his lamp when his shell cell started to vibrate. Wondering if maybe his human friends were in trouble, he quickly grabbed the cell up off of this bedside table and flicked it open and answered.

"Hello, April? Casey? Are you okay?" He asked as he reached for his katana blades. Planning to gear up and go rescue them if they needed him too. However instead of April or Casey the voice he heard on the other end of the line was different. Husky, airy, light. Destinctly _feminine_.

"Uh... Are you Leo?" The voice asked in a tentative and uncertain tone.

Leo was about to respond when he heard a loud shouting voice that he vaguely recognised, snarl, **_"Stay away from her!"_ **Followed by something or someone being hit by something, recognising the sickening crack for what it was- flesh hitting stone. He grabbed his katana's and sat up a little straighter in his bed as he shrugged the shreaths onto his shoulders and into place across the back of his shell.

And hissed out. "Who is this?"

"I'm sorry. No time to explain! Don needs your help! We're on the corner of-" There was a loud sound like a gun shot and he heard the woman on the other end gasp as he made out the sound of his brother crying out in pain and rage. _"Oh my god- Don!" _

(*******************************************************************************************************************************************************)

The moment Aarien heard the gun go off, she dropped the phone and looked up at Donatello through wide frightened eyes as she was spattered with a spray of crimson. Don screamed in pain and rage and shifted his hold on his weapon since his other arm was now wounded and hung uselessly at his side. Getting to her feet Aarien moved to stand by his side as he doubled over panting, his blood fllowing down his plasteron and arm.

She did a quick assessment of the situation (Don's wound included) and took up a fighting stance as he straightened and looked at her for a moment before growling and trying to push her back behind him. He'd almost let one of these punks grab her before because he had miscalculated- he would not let that happen again.

"Get back behind me."

She gave him a mutinous look and thinned her lips. "No."

"Aarien-"

"I said _no_ Donatello."

Sighing, he gave her a weak smile and nodded his head. Relenting just this once. But they were going to have a serious talk once he was patched up and his brothers were there.


	5. Chapter 5

Aarien pushed Donatello back a bit, her body crowding his own- trying to protect him from further harm as she took in the paling color of his skin. What had once been a nice olive green was now a sickly chalky color. Probably because during the fight he had sustained several more serious wounds. Frankly, she wasn't sure how he was still standing.

But she was impressed. It was rare to run into someone with so much strength and stamina these days.

However now he was in mortal danger, the wounds taking their toll on him- tiring him out. If his brothers didn't get there soon she doubted she'd be able to hold off the guys that had attacked them. Especially since they had called several new guys in to help them.

Panting, she lifted an arm and swiped at the blood in her eye from where she had been slashed downward over her right eye with a switchblade and thought in bemusement, _I'm not going to be doing concerts for a while_. Not unless they were Halloween themed anyways.

_I could go on stage as Frankenstien's bride. _She thought as one of the guys finally caught his breath and lunged at them, the metal pipe in his hands going up-

And everything slowed down for a moment as Aarien felt Don's three fingered hand close over her shoulder as she lifted her arm and gave the hoodlum a grim smile when his pipe met her arm with a loud crack. She gritted her teeth against the staggering pain and planted her foot in his stomach and pushed him back then spun on her heel as he started to lunge again and caught him in the side of the jaw with a perfect roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into one of his friends.

Whom both went toppling to the ground.

Glancing back at Don, she saw him struggling to stay on his feet. But his legs kept buckling on him. Grabbing his arm, she maneuvered him behind some garbage cans and whispered, "Okay Don, I need you to stay with me while you rest here. Your brothers are on their way- Until then I'll hold these guys back."

Don gave a weak shake of his head and winched slightly as the world started spinning. "Aarien, run. Forget about keeping them from me." He said weakly, hoping to reason with her. There was still three guys left, all armed. And her chances of getting away unscathed were next to nill.

He might could cover for her with some smoke bombs but he wondered how far she would get once she was out of his sight. There were more than this lot hanging back in the shadows in various places down the street. Could he really help her escape in his current state? Or would she be grabbed by someone else just a few alley's down?

He tried to think of how to best pull the stunt off, but his mind was even more sluggish than before when he felt Aarien take his bo from his numb fingers and looked up at her. His glazed eyes curious as she straightened her spine and took up an fighting stance.

(****************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Leo, Mikey and Raph flew across the rooftops, heading in the direction of Don's cell's signal.

On the streets below Casey was driving the battle shell. April and Master Splinter were riding with him as he tore up the streets trying to help them find Donatello. "How much further?" Raph growled, his thick Brooklyn accent nearly making his words difficult to understand.

Leo didn't answer until he saw the battle shell come to a sudden half spinning stop a little ways down from where they were. Glancing back at his two brothers they nodded and ran faster, eating up the distance until they came to the alley where their brother was.

Before they reached the roof edge, they could hear the sounds of combat and peered down at the ground below to see how outnumbered Don was.

And were both confused and scared when they saw their brother sitting on the ground behind some garbage cans, slumped over unconsious. His normally olive green skin a pale, chalky grey green color and there was a young woman with pinkish, fuchia, blonde hair- holding Don's bo. Fighting to keep the humans attacking her, away from their brother.

"Let's go." Leo said as one of the human males managed to knock Don's bo from the woman's hands and grab her. She screamed in alarm and thrashed around in his grip as several of other males ran around the two towards Don.

Leo stepped off of the roof with Mikey and Raph close behind, his two katana tightly gripped in his hands. He hit the pavement lightly on the balls of his feet just as he heard a sickening crack from a few feet away and knew that Casey had finally come out to play. 

_Focus. _He told himself as he, Raph and Mikey sprang into action.


	6. Chapter 6

Aarien screamed as she heard a sickening crack and fell with the man holding her and barely managed to get her bearings when a strong hand gripped her arm and hauled her up. Worried that it may be another attacker she struck out blindly, aiming to do as much damage as possible so that she could get back to Don's side.

Her hands connecting with the person holding onto her causing the person to yelp and let her go just long enough for her to ram her shoulder into them and run towards the garbage cans where she had left Don. Her heart pounding in fear and dread- all she could think about was finding Donatello dead. And the more the thought pounded through her brain the more she wanted to cry.

She got half way there when she was caught around the waist by a muscular arm. Her feet came up off of the pavement and she shrieked,_ "Don!" _As she tried to escape the person holding onto her in a similar fashion as before only to find that this person had a tighter grip on her and no fear of pain. In fact the more she tried to escape, the tighter the monsterous grip became.

Until she was having so much trouble breathing that it felt like her ribs were being broken. Still she was a fighter- the years of abuse she had suffered at the hands of her parents and brothers had made her so. _"Don. Don. Donatello answer me, I'm scared!" _She cried inbetween struggling for breath.

It took two minutes for all of the fight to drain out of her. And one more minute for her to realize that she was in a moving vehicle with people hovering over her, talking. Her consciousness started to fade as she caught a few snippets of conversation.

"Get me some valium so I can check this one's wounds while you work on Don." The voice was feminine, authoritaive. The voice of someone used to giving orders and having others follow them.

"How much do you need to put her out?" A low masculan voice asked.

"Give me five hundred miligrams. Any more than that could send her into a coma or kill her."

"Coming up April-" The male voice said when he made a funny sound and fell against the side of the vehicle and growled, "Dammit Raph! Stop driving like Casey! You made me waste perfectly good meds back here!"

Another voice, similar to the male that had first grabbed her in the alley hiss, "Fuck off Leo. You want me to get us home in record time, or watch our little brainiac bleed to death?"

"Shut up and just drive," The voice she identified as 'Leo' snapped back. "Mikey- Is Leatherhead waiting back at the lair for us?"

"Yeah man. He's been there since he heard it was Don that had gotten hurt." Another male voice, distinctly younger than the other ones- said quietly before falling silent again. Aarien opened her eyes for a moment as she felt fingertips gripping her face, and two tablets being put into her mouth as a needle was inserted into the crook of her elbow. And though she usually fought people when they tried to pull up her shirt sleeves, she was just too tired to recall why at the moment.

Instead she tried focusing on something else, like the thought of trying to punch whoever was forcing the pills down her throat, but for some odd reason she couldn't seem to move her arms or legs.

Almost as if they were being weighed down or tied down. The person rubbing her throat finally came into focus and her heart leapt into her throat for a moment as she swallowed the tablets then rasped, "Donatello?"

The person hovering over her froze and looked away for a moment before answering almost hesitantly, "Yes?"

"Y-You're okay...right?" She asked in a small voice, her concern coloring her tone. The guy standing over her gave her a forced smile before replying.

"I'm fine. Now let the valiums do their job and help you rest. You need it." She gave him a weak half smile and let her eyes close. She suddenly felt really, really, _really_ sleepy.

(***************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Leo hovered there over the woman until he was sure that she was asleep as April worked on cleaning and checking the wound above her eye as well as several deep cuts arranged in slashing patterns across her stomach, down one of her arms- there was even a small wound on her neck. Dangerously close to one of her arteries.

"Leo-" April's voice drew his attention away from the woman for a moment as she gave him a serious look and said, "Help me get her out of her jacket. She may have more wounds underneath."

Nodding his head, he reached out and as gently as he could, lifted the unconscious woman up a little bit and held her up while April slipped her jacket off of her before laying her back down. The first wound that he and April noticed was the large black, yellow and purple bruise spreading along the woman's forearm, indicating that she may have a fractered or broken bone that would need a small cast or to be wrapped.

April worked fast with Leo's help, though he kept glancing over at Don, Splinter and Mikey to see what was going on, his expression worried. His brother had lost more blood than he could spare and his heart and lungs were laboring just to keep him alive. He saw Casey move and put a needle into Mikey's arm then attach the other end to Don's and looked away feeling sick to his stomach.

To think that Don would lose so much blood that they would have to rely on Mikey to give him an infusion- Leo wasn't sure how he felt about this.

All he knew was that it was a quick fix solution, much like a bandaid and would buy them just a little more time. April finished wrapping the woman's arm and bandaging the deep cut over her eye and straightened her spine and looked over at the others.

"How's Donny?"

"Not good. His blood pressure is still dropping. He's having trouble breathing-"

"Then give him an oxygen mask, dammit!" April growled at Casey from between clenched teeth. Her fear and worry over her friend making her temper show when she needed to be able to think rationally. Casey put his hands up in the universal sign of surrender and did as she asked before she lost it and lunged at him and noticed almost an immidiate change in Don's breathing.

It was a bit easier- but only just a bit. "How you doing Mikey?" He asked as he studied the orange clad turtle sitting quietly by his brother's bed. Mikey didn't seem to hear his question. He was to focused on watching the shallow rise and fall of Don's chest. So as long as Don didn't die on them, Mikey would be fine.

Splinter however was another matter all together.

In all the years Casey had known the rat and his turtle sons, he had never seen the elder cry like he was now. His sobs were silent as he leaned over his son, his forehead lightly touching Donatello's own as he spoke to him softly. His voice shaking as he did so.

He could _not_ lose his son. Donatello was too special, much like all of his sons were. He didn't deserve to have his life cut short like this. Splinter thought as April came over and started to work on Don while Leo gently grasped his shoulders and pulled him away so that she could work.

They only had a few more minutes to stablize him before he would reach the point of no return and they would lose him forever.


	7. Chapter 7

_10 minutes later-_

Leatherhead was going over everything he'd brought with him. Trying to make sure that he had everything that he'd need to help his yong friend.

Surgical tools, needles, thread, anesthetic, IV's, bandages, blood- all of which were Donatello's type- donated by Mikey of course. He was going over the information that he'd been given earlier over the phone when he heard the distinct sound of the lair door opening, and quickly grabbed the make shift cot and moved it into position at the bottom of the stairs as Leo walked through the opening with an unconsious woman with strangely colored hair, in his arms.

He was about to ask who she was when he noted upon looking closer that her clothes and some of her skin was covered in blood.

Moving quickly aside and so that he was out of the way, Leo watched silently as Raph walked through the opening carrying Donatello's still form, and paused as April stepped through with an IV drip held high over her head. Splinter, Mikey and Casey following close behind.

"Careful Raph, the last thing Donny needs now that we've stopped the bleeding is to be dropped down some stairs." April said.

Raph glanced at the red head out of the corner of his eye and growled, "Ya think I don't know that."

"I just wanted to remind you Raph, nothing more." April said as she gave the red clad turtle a look that practically screamed, _'I heard about you dropping Mikey down the stairs the last time his arm was broken.' _Raph gave her a dark look that spoke volumes but kept his mouth closed knowing that she'd borrow Splinter's walking stick and hit him upside the head if he did say anything.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Raph carefully laid Donny on the cot and let Leatherhead take the IV from April's hand before wheeling Donny away. Leo was already in the lab, having jumped the railing of the stairs to get there, laying the woman on the spare bed in the far corner of the room where she would rest until he and the others could think of what to do with her.

Across the room a light clicked on and Leo turned just enough to see Leatherhead and April start to work on Don's wound. Sighing because he knew he would be of no use for the moment, he started to leave when Mikey walked in and flopped down in Don's swivel chair with a sugar cookie and a plastic bottle of Gatorade.

"You okay Mikey?" Leo asked, concerned for his little brother. Mikey nodded and quickly ate his cookie before he bothered replying.

"Master Splinter told me to sit in here and rest just in case Leatherhead didn't bring enough blood." The moment the words left Mikey's mouth, Leo cringed. On one hand he could understand Splinters order. But on the other hand it made Mikey sound as if he was nothing more than spare parts or something.

To Leo it was a cruel thing to do. But Mikey wasn't complaining, so maybe he didn't mind being used in such a way. After all Don was they're brother too. He deserved a chance at survival just like the rest of them.

Mikey scrwed the top off of his Gatorade bottle and guzzled half the bottle before looking over at the woman and saying, "She's really something, isn't she." Taken aback slightly by the sudden shift in conversation, but understanding that Mikey was probably trying to occupy his mind, he nodded and looked back at the unconscious female.

"Yeah. She is." He said simply as he mentally replayed how she had fought to protect Don. It wasn't often that they ran across a human willing to do such a thing for what they deemed a monster. Yet she had and sustained injuries ranging from merely bad to severe for her efforts. Leo would be lying if he wasn't at least a little bit interested in her.

"Why do you think she didn't run?" Mikey asked curiously. Leo shrugged. He had no answer for Mikey's question.

"I dunno Mikey. Maybe when she wakes up you can ask her."

"You mean if she doesn't freak out first." Mikey said, his tone almost bitter. Leo gazed at his little brother with a sad expression on his face, and reached out and put his hand on Mikey's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"One day Mikey, our appearance will not matter anymore. People won't call us monsters. Or scream. Or run away. One day, we'll be just like everyone else. Until then- just hold on a bit longer okay." Mikey hummed and reached up to grip his hand in his as he leaned back and closed his sky blue eyes for a moment when he and Leo both heard the distict sound of something metalic being dropped into a metal bowl followedd by April asking if that was all of the bullet.

They heard Leatherheads affirmative and both sighed as April came out from the operating area.

"How's Donny?" Mikey asked the red head as she walked over and did a quick check on the woman before replying.

"It'll be touch and go- the bullet was lodged in a bad place, but we've replaced some of the blood that he lost. He'll still need two or three bags in the upcoming hours. But the bullet is out and his color is a bit better. He's breathing easier too. So all in all-"

"What he needs is some TLC and he'll be good as new." Leo said as April gave him a slow smile and a thumbs up. Mikey made a strained sound and ducked his head. That was the best news he'd heard all fucking year as April gave the two of them a quick hug and kiss on the cheek then went to tell Splinter, Casey and Raph the good news.


	8. Chapter 8

_Three days later- _

The lair was almost utterly quiet aside from Raph watching TV with Casey in the living room while April washed dishes in the kitchen. Leatherhead had left three days ago. But had been coming back to the lair periodically to check on Don while Leo kept watch over his unconscious brother and the unknown woman.

The lab door opened a creak and Splinter slowly walked in. His walking stick tapping softly on the stone floor as he approached Leonardo. "How is Donatello, my son?" He asked softly as he came to a stop next to his eldest son's chair.

Leo looked at him through glazed bloodshot eyes, his weary mind turning the question over a few times before he answered. "His life is out of danger now and he's resting."

"That is good..." Splinter said before asking curiously, "And how is the young lady?"

"She's resting too. April came in a little while ago to give her some pain meds for her wounds. She said that she was lucky that the cut over her eye isn't as deep as it had initally looked or she might have lost her eye. As it is she'll have scars." Leo said as he stiffled a yawn behind one hand. His eyes blurring from lack of proper rest.

Splinter's eyes went to the woman as he said quietly, "I am sorry to hear that." Studying her features in the dim light, Splinter noted that the young woman was quite lovely even by human standards. Small, and almost childlike in build. Her bone structure was petite yet held the lush curves of a woman well in her twenties.

_Just what has my son been up too without our family knowing?_ Splinter wondered as he looked away from the sleeping female to look at his son. Donatello's face was turned towards the woman, his uninjured arm slightly extended towards her. Stepping from Leo's side for a moment, Splinter made his way around the cot to where Donatello's hand dangled over the side of the bed and studied it for a moment before looking back at the female again and saying. "Leo my son, will you move the woman's bed closer to Donatello's."

Leo looked at him for a moment then nodded and stood up and carefully pushed Don's bed closer to the mystery woman's as Splinter moved back out of the way as the bed was pushed up against the other and was shocked and surprised when Don's uninjured arm moved. His hand fumbling until it found the woman's wrist then stopped moving altogether.

Leo frowned and looked back at his master curiously to find his master had an odd twinkle in his dark eyes.

Splinter made a humming sound then muttered that he had something to do and started to make his way out of the lab, pausing only briefly to look back and order Leo to go get some rest. Leo wanted to argue with his master, but knew he was right. His body was reaching it's limit and he needed to rest while he could, just in case something came up later.

Sighing he turned to Don and leaned over him and muttered, "I'll be back later to check on you." Then quietly left the room and closed the door behind him to drown out any noise that might be made in the living room.

(********************************************************************************************************************************************)

_Two hours later-_

His awareness flicked like a lightbulb in his head. On one minute. Off the next as he replayed the last thing he recalled before he had lost consciousness. _Aarien. _His mind whispered as his eyes snapped open for the first time in days, the golden brown orbs searching the dimly lit room before coming completely into focus.

"Aarien." He rasped, his voice sounding rougher than it should have from lack of use as he looked her over. "Aarien, are you alive?" He tried again, remembering that the last thing he had seen before he had lost consciousness had been Aarien using his bow to protect him.

_It should have been the other way around. _He thought, feeling more than a little bitter about being taken out so easily when he should have been protecting Aarien from harm. But as bitter as he felt, he was glad that she hadn't been the one to get shot since he doubted that she would have survived.

"Aarien. Answer me." His voice came out as more of a growl this time. He couldn't help it. He _needed_ her to answer him. He needed to know that she was alive if nothing else. But again he was met with silence.

Growling again, he let go of her wrist and slipped his good arm under her shoulders and pulled her towards him. Her limp body barely registering with him as he pulled her as close to him as he could and used the fingertips of his wounded arm to gently rub the spot over her wounded eye, his expression sad as he gazed at her pale face and rasped.

"I'm so sorry Aarien-" And hugged her smaller body to his own and buried his face in her hair and took several shuddering breaths, trying hard not to start bawling his eyes out. Oh god she could be dead because of him! Panic took hold and he squeezed her a little harder.

The tears that had been threatening to spill over from his eyes finally slipped down his face as he shuddered again, tightening his grasp on Aarien's body a little more. Holding onto her as if she were his lifeline, he felt her breath. So warm and sweet against his skin causing him to cry that much harder in relief because she lived.

She lived. And so did he.

And for the moment that was really all that mattered.


	9. Chapter 9

Don managed to stay awake for several minutes before falling asleep curled protectively around Aarien's body. His face partially buried in her hair, inhaling her natrually sweet scent which helped him to sleep deeply enough to miss Raph's presence in the room.

Raph stood over his bed, staring down at the duo with an unhappy scowl on his face as he noticed how his little brother was holding the human woman.

_Dis can't be good. _He thought as he looked back at the door for a moment, wondering if he should do something like inform Master Splinter and the others that Don had awakened sometime earlier. Maybe warn them about Don's cuddle buddy?

Walking around to the far side of the other bed, he wondered if maybe he should remove the woman from Don's grasp seeing as having her in his bed might somehow cause his wound to become agitated. Reaching out he started to slip an arm under her shoulders when something hard rapped on the top of his head causing him to bite back an loud oath as he turned to see what had hit him and found his master standing there with his walking stick held tightly in one clawed hand.

The look on his face displeased.

"Masta Splinter-" _When the hell did he managed to sneak up on me? _Raph wondered as he rubbed the sore spot on his head as his father glared at him.

"You will not speak," Splinter growled at him in an authoritive tone that silenced him immediately. "How dare you try to remove the only comfort your brother has at the moment. Are you trying to cause him distress?" The elderly rat growled at his rebelious son as his tail twitched in irritation.

Raph looked taken aback for a moment then pointed to the woman as if to say,_ 'But she doesn't belong there!' _And got a mean look from Splinter who snapped, "That is not for you to decide! If her presence helps Donatello heal then you _will_ leave her alone."

Looking utterly shocked, Raph sputtered for a moment. "B-But masta Splinter-"

"Be silent!" Splinter snapped as he pointed to the door. Indicating that he wanted Raph out of the room. His son gave him a mutinous look for a moment then muttered something that Splinter couldn't quite hear and stomped out of the room.

Leaving his master alone. Or so he thought.

Splinter glanced at the two laying in each others arms and smiled when he noticed that the woman was awake. Or at the very least semi awake anyways. The sound of his voice tearing into Raphael had probably woken her. The poor thing.

Her eyes were open and fixed on his figure half hidden in the shadows and she was blinking as if her eyes were out of focus. "Who-"

"My name is Splinter Hamoto. Do not be frightened." Splinter said gently as he moved in closer and reached out and placed a hand against her forehead. Her skin felt a little feverish, making him wonder if she was ill or if one of her wounds had gotten infected.

"I'm not scared," She said in a groggy voice that was just a touch lyrical sounding to his ears. "Is... Don okay? I thought I heard someone crying earlier but I couldn't manage to open my eyes."

Splinter cocked his head and looked at Donatello. His shrewed eyes noting the faint wet markings on his pale green skin and sighed softly. "I believe what you heard, miss, was my son's relief at knowing you were alive." Splinter said gently as he removed his hand from her skin.

"Then he's okay?" She asked again. Splinter nodded and she gave him a small smile and muttered that she was glad. And he got the feeling that whatever relationship she had with Donatello- would change the course of his family's lives.

He stayed in the lab just a little bit longer, learning what he could about her before the medicines in her system put her back to sleep. He learned that she was a musician, her name, birthday, and she didn't like talking about her family. In fact she seemed to want to avoid all conversation involving them. Which was fine, he was patient and knew that she must have her reasons for being so tight lipped about them.

So he didn't press her any further.

Instead she asked him to tell her how he and his sons came to be, and sometime around the middle of his story she fell asleep. Her eyes sliding closed as she leaned her head back more fully against Donatello's arm leaving Splinter thinking.

They would make such a cute couple.


	10. Chapter 10

_The next day-_

Don's mind came back to awareness with alarming speed, replaying the events of the other day in his mind. He remembered the park. A young woman playing a violin- _Aarien. _Her name was Aarien Rymer. She was a musician. She was small, delicate- and so hauntingly _beautiful. _

The two of them had exchanged words. She knew what he was and hadn't screamed or reacted negatively. In fact they had spoken to each other for about an hour before he had almost made a fatal mistake. Then to make sure that he didn't fall asleep in the open she had offered to walk him home.

He could recall how pleasantly surprised he had been. No one had ever offered to walk him- a mutant freak- home before. Then there had been the treck away from Central Park. They had been jumped, and he'd been wounded. _Shot. _In a scuffle with everyday low lives no less.

_His mind screaming out in agony while he tried desprately to keep his wits about him. But they were out numbered ten to two. He felt as if he were dying, his blood leaving him faster than it should have, he had never felt so weak. _

_Aarien dropped down in front of him, her face a bloody mess that had horrified him. Had she lost her eye because of him? Because of his foolishness? She had examined his wound as he begged her to run knowing that he would be unable to help her further. Worried that if she didn't leave him then, that there would be two dead bodies for his brothers to find instead of one._

_She had stubbornly refused and grabbed his bo- _

He didn't remember anything much after that aside from waking up before and finding her in the bed next to his own and dragging her across the space between them so that he could check her. He'd been so afraid that she had been dead that he hadn't paid much attention to anything but her wounds at first. Then he'd felt her breath on his skin and broken down crying.

She could have died. She could have died because of him and the world would have been robbed of her beauty and light.

Looking down at the tangled mess of thick pinkish, fuchia, blonde hair laying on his chest, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Though he couldn't see her face, he knew that she was okay. A little worse for the wear but okay nevertheless. Shifting the arm he had around her slender shoulders, he ran his hand along her back to her nape.

She twitched slightly in her sleep and made a soft mewling sound then lifted herself up a little bit and rubbed her face against his plasteron for a moment before settling back down again.

Don smiled at the cuteness of the gesture and absently shifted his hand up a bit more to play with some of her hair. Causing her to stir slightly then awaken and look at him. A sleepy smile curving her lips as she patted his shell gently. "Hey."

"Hey." Don said back in amusement as she shifted a little bit so that she was on her knees next to him. He watched her stretch her arms up over her head and arch her back a little bit and felt a peculiar warmth pooling low in his abdomen at the sight of her breasts straining against her shirt.

Once she was done stretching, she sat back on her heels and looked around since she hadn't the last time she was awake and noted that the room was mostly dark though she could make out a fridge, some medical supplies, and a large computer hanging against the far wall with a small chair in front of it. "What is this place?" She asked curiously as she looked at him.

Don was so distracted by her presence that he had to look around the lab just to see where he was before saying. "Either we're in my lab back home. Or a huge guy dressed up like a cheese grater has us."

Aarien blinked at him and looked like she was on the brink of laughing but somehow stopped herself and hummed instead and nearly fell off of the bed when Don reached out with one hand and cupped the side of her face in his hand. "How are you feeling?" He asked in a growling tone that made her shiver.

"I-I'm fine..." She said before parroting the question back at him. He moved his sore shoulder and gave her a grim smile before saying that he'd lived with worse as someone peeked into the lab and shouted,

"Donny's awake! Donny's awake!"

Aarien jumped a little bit and quickly pressed herself against his side and asked in a panicked tone, "Was that the guy with the cheese grater outfit?" Her eyes wide as saucers. Don chuckled and shook his head as several people entered the room, each of them excitedly calling his name.

"No. Not the cheese grater guy- That was one of my brothers. And the guys coming in now, are the rest of my family."


	11. Chapter 11

"Y-Your family?" Aarien squeaked, her eyes wide and looking only a little alarmed as his brothers got closer to them.

Don noted her tone and the wide eyed expression on her face and wondered if it bothered her that she would be meeting his family so soon when he saw her reach up and start running her fingers through her hair in an effort to untangle it. Then once that was done she tried to straighten her clothing a bit by smoothing out some of the wrinkles when Don caught her hand in his and stopped her.

"You don't have to do that. We're very casual around here."

"Oh. _Oh!_ T-That's great but I wasn't doing it to look nice- I was doing it because it's a nervous habit. Like a tick or something." She said in a hushed tone as she leaned a little more against his uninjured side.

Don blinked and was quiet for a moment as he curled his free arm around her nape and pulled her head down until it was laying on his caprice just as Leo reached them.

"Don-" His eldest brother said with a smile before giving Aarien a courtesy glance. Letting his curiosity show in his expression. "How are you feeling?" Leo asked gently. But Don wasn't fooled for a second by the concerned tone. The second he dropped his guard Leo would start grilling him about Aarien and what she knew about them and frankly, he wasn't up to being bothered with his brother.

So instead of answering Leo's round about question, he instead said- "Leo, this is Aarien Rymer. She's a musician and the love of my life- Aarien, this my eldest brother, Leonardo." Leo gaped at him for a second as Aarien tipped her head back and looked at Don with a questioning look on her face before catching on to his plan and saying cheerfully.

"Hello. It's so nice to finally meet you... I've looked so forward to meeting you, I'm just sorry it was under these circumstances." Aarien said, positivly oozing charm. Leo looked taken aback for a moment, unsure of how else to react to Don and the human's admission about a romantic relationship as Raph and Mikey came up behind him and nudged him out of the way.

"Yo Donny-"

"Hey Raph."

"Dude did we just hear you right?"

"Why? Do you have another wax blockage in your ears Mikey?"

"No it's just-" Mikey started to say as Raph glared at Aarien. He didn't care who his little bro said the female was. Until she was wearing Don's scent- he wasn't accepting her into the family. End of discussion. "Did you just say this chick was the love of your life?" The turtle called Mikey asked in an amused tone. Earning a scowl from _both_ of his eldest brothers.

Don looked over at Aarien and noted that she was having a staring contest with both Raph and Leo and nearly snapped at his brothers to _back the fuck off_. But the moment he started to open his mouth, Master Splinter appeared and smacked the two in the shell with his walking stick, causing them to yelp in startled surprise as the rat growled, "_Manners._ You have them and I expect you to use them to welcome our young guest. Especially after she saved your brother's life."

The two rubbed the spot where they had been hit and muttered something umbecoming under their breath as the rat moved forward to greet Don and Aarien. "My son-" He said to Donatello, "I have already had the pleasure of meeting your..._friend_. And I approve of her-" Don got a funny look on his face though he kept smiling and absently reached out for Aarien's hand as Splinter continued. "So once the two of you are healed, we will hold the wedding ceremony here and the two of you can get down to making a few grandkids for me, eh."

Don's expression by this point looked so strained that he appeared to just barely be holding on where as Aarien merely looked like she wanted to protest, yet held her tongue as the rat turned and after snapping at his other sons about giving the lovebirds 'grief'- left the lab. The other three turtles trailing along behind him.

Leaving Don and Aarien alone together.

Don opened his mouth to tell her that his father was just kidding about the two of them being married and starting a family, but if Splinter had heard his 'love of my life' comment then of course he would decide to bind them together all of a sudden. He was thinking of killing two birds with one stone.

And of course it didn't help things that Don found Aarien attractive or even desirable as a female. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and played the most amazing music. But that was neither here nor there. He had just met Aarien and had to think about what she would want. After all, she was human. What if she wanted a human husband?

The word divorce didn't exist for him or his brothers. So once bound he would forever see her as a part of his family whether she liked it or not. "I-I'm so sorry about my family Aarien. My brothers, I can sort of understand being curious or even hostile. But I have no idea what's up with my dad." He finally said as an embarrassed flush krept up his neck.

Aarien looked down at their joined hands and cocked her head to the side a little bit before saying, "Maybe your dad knows something that we don't." Don made a noncommental sound as he considered her words and looked down at their hands and quickly let hers go and muttered a shy sounding apology under his breath.

He hadn't meant to hold her hand for so long, he had only meant to do it to show that he was there in case one of his brothers got snarky with her or something. After all, both Leo and Raph could practically flay a person alive with their tongues if they were of a mind too. "Aarien...ugh, look- Once we're both completely well, I'll talk with Splinter and set his straight. You don't have to worry about-"

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why set him straight when the thought of us being married obviously makes him happy."

"Because it isn't right! You're a human!" Don all but shouted at her and fell silent as Aarien got a pained look on her face as she sat up a little bit straighter in the bed. Just realizing what he had said and how offending it must sound to her and Don wanted badly to take it back. Truly he did, but he was right. She was human. She had no place in his world.

Dragging her into their family even by accident was just plain cruel. Moving a bit more, she managed to somehow climb down off of the bed before he could say anything and looked back at him with a sunny smile that seemed just a bit too forced for his liking and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you and your family Don but I'm going home now."

"H-Hey wait! Your still wounded!"

"So what. Why shoudl I stay in a place where I'm obviously not wanted?"

"How are you going to get out of here?" Don asked, his tone slightly panicked as she shrugged her shoulders and started walking.

Tossing back the words, "I'll ask one of your brothers. I'm sure that the two who dislike me would be more than happy to get rid of me."


	12. Chapter 12

_"Well, it was nice meeting you and your family Don but I'm going home now." Aarien said, her expression mercifully blank for once. Probably trying to hide how much his words about her being a human had hurt her as he came up off of the bed a little bit and almost yelled._

_"H-Hey wait! You're still wounded!" Was it him, or had his tone sound almost authoritive? As he held his breath, waiting for her to listen to him a. nd be a good girl and realize that he was right and lay back down. She must have thought him an idiot for using that tone on her. _

_"So what. Why should I stay in a place where I'm obviously not wanted?" She said hollowly as she started moving away from him as he stared in disbelief._

_"How are you going to get out of here?" Don asked, his tone slightly panicked as she shrugged her slender shoulders and started walking._

_Tossing back the words, "I'll ask one of your brothers. I'm sure that the one of them will take me." She had said as she stepped beyond the door of his lab, leaving him to suffer in silence._

(************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Aarien stood just on the other side of the door, feeling like she could cry when someone or something dropped down from some heavy looking pipes. Gasping she quickly moved out of the way, lest she might be crushed- but wasn't quick enough before a three fingered hand shackled her wrist, preventing her escape.

Looking back over her shoulder, she met the dark blue eyes partially hidden behind a sapphire blue mask, and blinked up at the turtle that Don had introduced as his eldest brother, Leonardo. "What are you doing out of bed?" The turtle demanded, his tone harsh as he scowled down at her.

Aarien blinked back tears and barely noticed the scowl soften a bit before she was tugged against the turtle's plasteron and given an awkward hug and three gentle pats on the back. "Okay, okay- you don't have to go back to bed. Just please don't cry." Leo said, sounding slightly uncomfortable with the thought of her crying all over him.

Not that she could blame him any. She didn't particularly like the idea of showing such weakness in front of another person, but Don's words had wounded her deeply. He had made it sound as if the fact that she was human, sound like an insult. Like she was something disgusting. Something that he hated.

But he hadn't acted that way before so she didn't understand why he would act in such a way now...

She sobbed and Leo tensed up in anticipation for what would come next when he heard three little broken sounding words that made him want to shout for Master Splinter. "T-Take m-me h-home..." Leo made a strained sound in the back of his throat and looked around the lair for a moment, trying to see if he could locate Splinter.

Feeling that he suddenly needed his help to convince Aarien to stay, yet found no traces of his master/father anywhere. _Figures. _Leo thought with a sigh as he studied Aarien's features for a moment before reluctantly nodding his head. He knew that she shouldn't be up and moving too much due to her injuries, but when he saw her crying like this he just couldn't help but give into her wishes.

His father had deemed her necessary to their family and despite what he may think or feel towards the woman, his father's word was absolute. And that automatically made this human family. His sister no less.

And no matter how strange he found the circumstances, he wasn't about to argue.

After all, Splinter had a funny way of getting his point across when he was pissed- And that was something that Leo wanted to avoid at all costs since the rat could tear him limb from limb with very little effort.

"Alright. I'll take you home. Just-" He looked around again and decided that having her sit down while he went and informed either Splinter or Raph of where he was going would be for the best since she was looking like she was a tad bit unsteady on her feet. "Here, sit down on the couch while I go let someone know that we're leaving just in case something happens while we're out." He said as he gently grasped her upper arm and carefully maneuvered her over to the couch and pushed her down on it then quickly walked off.

She must have been sitting there for a good two or three minutes before she heard someone say, "Sis? What are you doing out of bed?" And looked up to see a turtle wearing an orange mask approaching her with an unopened coke can in one hand.

Aarien looked at him with what must have been a deer in the headlights sort of look on her face, causing him to slow his pace and come to a stop well outside of arms reach of her and glance around the room before holding his soda out to her and giving her a friendly smile as he said, "Here. You must be thirsty from being asleep for the past few days."

She blinked at him and started to shake her head no and politely turn him down. Although now that she thought about it, she did feel just a mite thirsty. Maybe it was from crying? He took another step forward and pressed the cold can against her palm and grinned as her fingers curled around it and she flushed and muttered a soft thanks.

"See. You need this, so it's not a big deal to give it to you. I can always get another-" The turtle said in a kind tone as he sat down on the arm of an old recliner that had definately seen better days and watched her as she opened the soda and took a small drink. He waited until she had taken a few sips before asking, "Better now?"

She nodded her head slowly, not really trusting her voice at the moment when Leo walked back up and saw the two of them sitting there. "Mikey, just the person I was sort of looking for..."

'Mikey' glanced over at his brother as he explained that he was taking her home, earning a small somewhat curious look from the orange masked turtle before he asked her, "You're coming back aren't you?"

Aarien tried to huddle into herself and disappear. She didn't want to answer him but her silence was answer enough. Mikey frowned at her and started to open his mouth to tell her that Splinter would be upset but Leo held out his arm, signaling for him to stay silent as he said. "Alright Aarien, lets go." And held his hand out a hand to help her up.

She took his hand and let him help her up and shyly thanked Mikey again for the soda and was unprepared for the orange masked turtle to get up and wrap his arms around her middle as he slipped his shell cell into her jacket pocket before letting her go.

Leo, noticing the sneaky action, nodded his head and pretended that he hadn't noticed and pulled on Aarien's arm a bit as Mikey stood back and let his older brother lead her to the door of the lair and punch in the code before disappearing through.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Small rant here- _**

**_Why does everyone spell Mikey's name 'Mickey'? I mean I could understand the mis spelling if Mikey were a mouse, but he's a turtle. And his name is Mikey. _**

**_M-i-k-e-y. _**

**_Okay, I'm done. Hope that I didn't depress anyone or insult anyone because that wasn't my intent._**

(*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Leo and Aarien had been walking for a while before Leo finally broke the silence and said, "I think Mikey likes you." His tone was neither approving nor disapproving. It was merely a gently stated fact.

She looked at him in the inky darkness, not knowing that he was staring at her from over his shoulder as she gripped the coke that she had gotten from Mikey even harder, causing the can to make that almost painful crinkling sound as the aluminum twisted and bent a little bit. "Y-Yeah. I kind of liked him too. He was sweet." She said after a heartbeat or two of silence.

She response almost shyly making the corners of Leo's lips curve up just a tad. Anyone who liked his little brother Mikey couldn't be all bad. Mikey was a fairly good judge of character, after all. Hell he was almost as good a judge of character as Splinter was.

Which was just damn eerie if anyone asked him.

"Where exactly do you live?"

She hesitated for a moment as if she were weighing the pros and cons of telling him, but eventually gave in and told him that she lived in a building a few blocks from Central Park, in a pent house apartment. "Well okay then." Leo said before falling into that awkward silence again. His mind already forming a plan on how to get her home then get up to her apartment so that he could look around and see how she lived.

He told himself it was out of curiosity. Which was only partially true. The truth of the matter was, he wanted to know what sort of person she was. What people she associated with. What her family was like and ect...

They reached the closest manhole to Central Park- which coincidentally was just a block or so from where Aarien and Don had been attacked by the group to thugs- inbetween two old buildings. One of which had a fire escape that Leo and Aarien would be taking until they reached Aarien's building.

The sky was dark, the moon and stars twinkling in the sky. They were unnatrually bright tonight. _Not surprising considering the time of year_, Leo thought as he grasped Aarien's arm and pulled her in close and told her to wrap her arms around his neck while he calculated the distance between himself and the fire escape to the right of him.

He could make the jump easily. Even with the added weight.

He bent down a little bit so that Aarien could get a better grasp without strangling him, and upon standing back up to his full height froze for a second. Jesus Christ, this woman must have weighed no more than fifty pounds when wet! She just felt so light to him that he automatically felt warning bells going off in his mind.

He would have to come by unannounced on a regular basis just to make sure that she was taking care of herself since it felt like she often neglected to do so. "Hang on to me as tight as you can without choking me- I'm going to jump."

"Jump where- _aaak!_" Aarien shrieked as he jumped suddenly and grabbed hold of the closest step on the fire escape and slowly, carefully pulled them up. Angling his body to the side a bit so that she could take hold and climb up ahead of him a little ways before he started to follow.


	14. Chapter 14

As it turned out Leo didn't need- or rather _couldn't _to use the rooftops to sneak into Aarien's building.

She told him about the set of stairs in the back of the building where the fire exit was. She explained that it was how she often got to her penthouse without running into people wanting her autograph and to take pictures of her. She even came up with a cover story for him just in case they were seen.

The reason for her shabby appearance, plus the wounds on her were part of a costume because she had decided to ditch work and take a small break and visit a comic-con where she had met Leo. A fellow New Yorker/collage student who had run into some finacial problems and didn't have the money for a trip home.

So she had offered to help and after a lengthy flight the two had become buds and tonight he was crashing at her place.

Leo may not have liked the idea of possibly being exposed, but after she had told him that there was no other way he could reach her condo and get in- He had reluctantly given in and had been some what impressed by the detail of her cover story.

Apparently his future sister-in-law was a woman who was good at solving problems.

That was good. His family needed another clear minded thinker. And Don needed someone who could push their feelings aside and do what was best for the family when the chips were down.

Once down off of the roof next to the building Aarien lived in, Leo helped her down from the fire escape and let her lead the way around the corner of the building. Cautiously he followed, ever aware that she could be leading him into some sort of trap. But then shook his head to shake the feeling of foreboding off. Splinter would not have deemed her good enough to be a part of their family if she was going to harm them.

His father would have known her intentions and had he and his brothers deal with her if that were true. And while Don may not have spoken to them or fixed anything that they broke for a while- he would have inevitably forgiven them. Maybe? Hopefully?

If they gave him a month or so.

Once they were at the door, Leo reached out to grasp her wrist and pull her aside so that he could have a look at the lock when Aarien finally spoke up again, "What are you doing?" She asked, her tone curious as he noted that the lock on the door was just an average ordinary lock. Something that he could easily pick.

He glanced up at her, his blue eyes darkened by the shadows- yet so very watchful. "I'm going to pick the lock." He said as if it were the most logical move in the world to make. After all, he wanted off the streets as fast as possible.

She made an amused half snorting sound and looked away as one hand quickly covered her mouth. He narrowed his eyes at her and growled out in an annoyed tone, "What's so damn funny?"

"Nothing-" She said quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly.

"Aarien-" Leo said her name from between clenched teeth, his ire rising. She made that amused sound again and dug into one of her pants pockets and pulled out a ring with three keys on it. One painted lavender, another emerald, and the third one pink, and handed them to him and said,

"Use the lavender one to unlock the door."

Leo made another annoyed sound as he took the key ring from her and muttered, "Dammit, you're just as bad as April. Why didn't you mention that you had a key?"

"You never asked." She shrugged her shoulders and said as she tried to suppress a giggle as Leo rolled his eyes and thought, _Yup, just as bad as April. _

Though April had been a good friend to himself and his family over the years, she had certain personality quirks that he still found questionable at times. One of which was the fact that he and his brothers had to ask her for information _specifically_ or she tended to leave things out.

It was the same with Aarien apprently.

Unless you asked specifically if she had keys- she didn't offer the information up. But since she was with him and had probably noticed how uncomfortable he was out in the open on the streets, she had taken pity on him...this time. Muttering about warped minded women, he unlocked the door and pushed it open and took a cursorary glance inside and noted that the lighting for the stairwell was almost so dim that you couldn't see anything but the step in front of you.

Almost perfect for someone who didn't want to be seen.

"Alright, lets go." Leo said in a whispered tone as he handed Aarien's keys back to her and placed a hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her inside the building and quickly stepped in behind her and silently closed the door behind him with a click.

They walked up the stairs for what must have been thirty minutes before she stopped on a landing next to a door with the number twenty painted on the wall in big black, bold numbers. "This is my floor-" Aarien said as she doubled over a little bit, her expression pained. Leo started to reach for her, figuring that her wounds were finally getting the best of her, but she moved back from him, not allowing him to get too close as she said, "I'm fine. I just need a second to catch my breath."

Dropping his arms back to his sides, though his expression was one of concern- he nodded his head and let her rest until she felt good enough to move on. Several more minutes passed before they found themselves outside of Aarien's front door, Leo holding the keys in his hand again as he used the pink key to open the key to her home and quickly pushed her inside and stepped in behind her and closed the door.

Somewhat relieved that there hadn't been anyone around.

Aarien's home was not what he expected a famous musician's home to be. In fact, her home was incredibly bare, aside from the drapes covering her window and the carpet covering her floor, that is. He looked around the spacious living room and blinked, half expecting her to have posters on her walls and instruments lying around.

But she had nothing like that. She didn't even have pictures on the wall of her family and friends! _Jeez, what sort of woman did master pick out for Donny? _There was literally nothing that he could gather information from aside from the shelf across from a small cream colored love seat that held a 22'inch TV, a sterio and a bunch of CD's.

"Make youself at home." Aarien said as she walked over to a small table hidden by the shelf and seemed to be checking something. Leo heard a beeping sound as he walked over to the love seat and sat down and folded his hands in his lap, figuring that the beeping sound must be coming from an answering machine. He wasn't disappointed when he suddenly heard a voice fill the room,

"Aarien this is your father. Stop acting like a bitch and pick up the phone! You're brother Mark is in trouble-" Aarien muttered something under her breath that sounded strangely like, "Asshole." Then changed the message.

"This is your father again-" **_Beep._**

"Dammit! You owe this family and you will pick up the phone or so help me god the next time I see you-" **_Beep. Beep. _**

"Aarien, this is your manager. Is everything okay? I haven't heard from you and I'm worried because your father has been buring up the phone lines demanding to know where you are-" Aarien moved away from the answering machine and shrugged off her jacket and hung it on a peg on the wall and winced slightly at what the action cost her.

She would need to call her manager, Harold, and chew him out for giving her father her phone number in a little bit. Leo, noticing the pained reaction to removing her jacket finally decided to speak up and asked, "Do you have a first aid kit?" She nodded and knelt down in front of the shelf and pulled out a medium sized plastic box and then stood back up as he said in an incredulous tone, "You keep your first aid kit hidden _there_."

She shrugged and handed it to him, unsure of what to say. To her it was a matter of convenience. "Where else would I have it?" She asked curiously as he opened the lid and started to go through her medical supplies as he replied.

"Dunno. Most people keep their first aid stuff in the kitchen or bathroom." She made a noncommental sound as he located some bandages, tape, salve for cuts, burns and abbrasions- and pulled them out knowing that he would need them to redress some of her wounds before suggesting, "Why don't you go take a shower and get cleaned up. Then I'll take care of your wounds and go so that you can rest."

She didn't say anything, but she did reach out and lightly pat his shoulder as she brushed past him. Leaving him alone for the time being.


	15. Chapter 15

Don lay on the cot in his lab for...he didn't know how long. All he knew was that Aarien had already gone. _And it's my fault for not keeping my mouth shut- _He thought bitterly as he shifted and tried to push himself upright.

He wanted to go after her.

No, he _needed_ to go after her.

He needed to tell her that he was sorry for saying what he said about her being a human, and for making it sound like an insult. But more importantly than anything, he needed to know that she was safe. That someone other than Raph had taken her home.

He fell back on the bed and let out a little growling sound as his body started to shake from the weakness in his limbs. God he hated being ill and wounded. They were the two most irritating times. And he always spent them in a damned bed against his will.

Sighing he was just about to try getting up again when his shell cell vibrated on the small table next to the cot. Growling again, Don reached over and grabbed it and checked the number and sighed when he saw it was Mikey's number- and flicked it open. "Mikey, please tell me that you're with Aarien." Don said in a pleading tone without realizing it.

There was silence for a moment from the other end of the line before he heard a reply, but not from Mikey. From Leo. "I'm with Aarien. She's safe and sound at her place and is currently taking a shower so that I can check over her wounds before I leave. I was just calling to tell you that Mikey slipped his shell cell in her jacket so that we can track her-"

Don felt himself exhaling the breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding as he smiled faintly before croaking, "B-But I-I thought you hated her-"

Leo sighed, of course his brother would think such a thing after the way he had acted before. But there was a difference between cautious behavior and hatred. Leo of course was cautious by nature. So having a strange in their midst, even one that he owed for helping protect his brother- simply set off warning bells in his mind.

But those bells had been quieted a bit by Splinter's assessment of Aarien's character. And after being in her presence for the past little while he could see why Splinter would like her so much. The woman herself, while a mite odd, had a comforting presence to her.

Almost as if she had been elightened.

"I don't hate her Don. I'm just being cautious-" Leo finally said as he moved away from the answering machine. He had listened to each message enough to know that they may have some trouble with her family. But he would wait for Aarien to come to them with her family issues before he bothered forming a plan.

He just hoped that they didn't come looking for her. Her father and the brother mentioned in one of the messages sounded like particularly bad news to him and he didn't want Aarien of his family caught up in something that could cause long term damage. "By the way has she mentioned anything about her family or background to you?" Leo asked curiously.

"Uh, no. And I didn't ask either."

"Hn. Well, we may have some issues down the line with her family."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, from the sounds of things on her answering machine- Her father throws temper tantrums to rival Raph and he feels that she owes the family. He left several threatening messages on her answering machine, one of which mentions how he broke one of her arms before and how he'll do it again if he doesn't get what he wants. She has a brother who's in trouble and needs money..._bad_."

"So you think they may come looking for her." It wasn't a question. Merely a stated fact.

"Yeah I think they will. And if she has a life insurance policy-"

"And they think they can somehow get their hands on her assets-"

"I'm predicting a swan dive out the window of her building." Leo said in a grim tone as he heard Don make an angry snake like hissing sound before growling,

"The fuck that's happening to her! Bring her back to the lair, Leo."

"I don't think it will be that easy Don. She was practically in tears when she asked me to bring her here." Leo said, on the other end of the line Don flinched then said in a more level tone.

"I don't care if you have to drag her out of there kicking and screaming, just..._bring her back_." Leo made a soft huffing sound on the other end of the line and then said in a growling tone.

"Dammit, Don... Alright. I'll try. But don't expect me to make any promises."

"Thank you Leo."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and get some sleep."


	16. Chapter 16

Leo flipped Mikey's cell closed, ending his call with Don and thought in irritation, _Being the older brother of three willful siblings is sometimes a pain in the ass._

Slipping the cell back into Aarien's jacket pocket just in time for her to come out of the bathroom dressed in a black sleeveless wifebeater, and a pair of jean shorts. Her peculiar colored hair hanging down her back, and around her shoulders and face.

The wound over her eye standing out a vivid angry red, nearly making his flinch in sympathy when he remembered that this was only _one_ of the numerous wounds that she had recieved while trying to save his brother. And while it was a dark and horrible mark- the woman herself was flawless and beautiful.

The wound was a badge of honor and strength, and he would _not_ flinch away from it.

"Were you playing with my message machine?" She asked in a curious tone as he sat back down on the small two seater and tried to look as innocent as possible. _Tried_ being the operative word.

He opened his mouth to deny the fact that he'd been snooping but she cut him off by saying, "You probably have questions about my dad and so on." He gave her a startled look for a second then shifted in his seat before replying in a tentative tone.

"He sounds unpleasant."

"He is unpleasant," Aarien said as she started to walk past him before saying, "And since this is likely to be a long interrogation, want something to drink? I have mineral water, tea and soda?"

"Whatever is fine with me." Leo said, not really caring about the drink but understanding that he was a guest in his future sister's home and needed to be on his best behavior. Aarien nodded and went around the corner to what he assumed was the kitchen area and returned a moment or so later with...five drinks? All of them orange and grape flavored soda's.

Reaching for one, Leo picked up an orange and looked at it then at her and asked, "Is it okay if I take one of there home for Mikey?"

Aarien popped the tab on her drink and glanced at him and smiled. "Sure. Take two or three if you like."

"I think one should be enough, thanks. So...about your dad-" He said awkwardly. She took a sip of her drink and then set it down on the small table in front of the couch and leaned back before answering.

"He's an gold digger in the extreme. Married a former actress thinking she'd have the money to put up with his gambling debts. She didn't. She had debts of her own plus a drug addiction. My brothers are pretty much the same way. Each one has an addiction that they expect me to keep up for them and on top of that they expect me to pay for expensive cars, and jewelry for their wives. Usually if I refused, they would beat me. Lock me in the basement and withhold food and water."

"And if I still refused, they would break my fingers, or one of my arms. My father once lost control of his temper and grabbed a hack saw and told me he was going to hack me into little itty bitty pieces." Leo got a look of horror on his face and quickly set the can of soda down and then got up and started pacing.

_Good lord! _He had been expecting to hear a horror story but nothing like that! "Okay, I don't need to hear anymore. I can guess what else they put you through-" Which was true, Leo told himself. He could guess. And he had a very vivid imagination. "Since your dad has your number it's not in increadible leap in logic to assume that he also knows where you live. I need you to go pack a bag or two. You're coming back to the lair with me."

"No." Aarien said almost automatically as he turned to look at her, he dark blue eyes turning a story color.

"Aarien, I'm not joking-"

"No."

"Why the hell not?" Leo demanded, suddenly feeling somewhat defensive about his home. There was nothing wrong with the lair. It had offered him and his family safety and security for many years. It would do the same for Aarien if she would only let him take her back.

"Because Donatello has more or less told me that I wasn't welcome..." Aarien said in a softer, almost hurt tone as Leo's jaw dropped open and he stammered,

"Wh-What?"

"He said that I wasn't welcome because I was a human."

"Oh for the love of-" Leo muttered as he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist and hauled her up off of the chair, "Don wouldn't say something like that!"

"But he did."

"Is that why you were nearly in tears? Why you wanted to come home? Because you think he doesn't want you at the lair?" He asked, his expression confused. He had no idea what Don had actually said to her, but from the way she was acting- he had either insulted her greatly or hurt her feelings badly. _Damn you Don for expecting me to fix your mess. _Leo thought as Aarien once again tried to make herself look small.

Just like she had back at the lair. Answering his questions without speaking.

Sighing because he was at a loss as to what to say, Leo pulled her against him in a loose hug. Ever aware of her wounds, he awkwardly rubbed her back- hoping that he wasn't hurting her as he said gently, "Look I dunno what Don said to you. But he probably didn't mean it the way it sounded since I talked to him a little while ago, and he told me that he was worried about you. My guess is that our father dropped a bomb on him with the whole 'marriage thing' and he freaked. Maybe what he meant was that your human and deserve a human husband- not a mutant who can't give you much aside from a life of strange occurances and battles."

Aarien looked up at him with a doubtful expression but said nothing as he gently put her away from him and then said, "So how about I check your wounds then maybe you can give my idiot brother another chance, hn."


	17. Chapter 17

Don stared at the ceiling blankly as his fingers tightened a bit on the shell cell. He was currently doing complicated mathmatical formula's in his head to keep from going crazy while wondering if Leo would somehow manage to bring Aarien back. It had been almost an hour since he had talked to Leo and demanded that he bring Aarien back to the lair and so far...nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

He had neither seen nor heard anything of his brother or the woman his father had decided he was to marry. _God what a mess I made of things before- _He thought as he finished calculating his latest problem. _When Leo brings Aarien back I need to apologize and explain what I meant when I pointed out that she was human._ Don thought as he heard someone come into the lab.

"Hey Don, think you can stand to have some food or something?" Mikey asked from across the room.

"Not until Leo brings Aarien back, Mikey."

Mikey was quiet for a moment or two before saying, "I thought she wasn't coming back."

Don's hand subconsciously tightened on the cell again, this time cracking the outter surface of it. The sound of the outter shell cracking under his grip echoed like a gunshot in the silence of the lab. It was one of the many things he hated about just sitting there and waiting for some news. "She's comeing back. I told Leo to bring her back kicking and screaming if he had too."

"Was that necessary?" Mikey asked curiously.

"She's in danger Mikey. I don't have all the specifics but Leo thinks she's in danger too."

"So you both act like common thugs and drag her from her home against her will. Gee, I wonder how that will go," Mikey said in an almost irked tone. _What the hell is his problem? _Don wondered curiously before Mikey said, "Ya know, I was walking by here before and heard some of what you said to Aarien. I heard the whole 'human' bit and everything and I know Splinter must have dropped a bomb on you by stating that you and Aarien will marry. I also know that you were probably freaking a little bit and didn't mean what you said to sound like an insult-"

"And I'll admit, I've been dying to punch you for being an idiot. But I just wanted to clarify things a bit. One, Aarien helped save your life. Two, She's an amazing person. I mean she must be for Splinter to decide that one of us will marry her. Three, the lady didn't seem upset at all by Splinter's decree. In fact she just accepted it-"

"But that was the problem Mikey! She accepted Splinter's decree. She didn't say anything! She didn't even fight him on it!" Don growled as he thought back to how she had looked. She had looked a little surprised by what his father had decided, then looked shyly at Don and smiled a bit.

But that wasn't what Don had seen. In his mind he had seen Aarien being kidnapped by the Foot clan, Bishop, and so on. In his mind he had seen her spending a majority of her years with him terrified, and unhappy. And that in turn had terrified him.

She deserved someone human, someone worthy of her, someone able to give her everything that she ever needed or wanted. He could do none of those things. And though he would have liked to get to know her better, he knew that it would only hurt them worse in the long run.

His grip on the phone tightened more and he growled again before saying to himself, "But that in no way means that I want her in danger." No, he wanted- He wanted her where he coulod see her. Where he could speak with her.

Dammit, he wanted her back in the lair!

He heard a snicker from across the room and turned his head to glare at his younger brother. "You know that feeling you're having right now? The one that practically screams, _I'm-going-to-rip-someone-apart-if-I-don't-get-my-girl-back_. That's what jealousy and possessiveness feel like."

"Oh, will you shut up already." Don snapped at him earning a shrug and another laugh from Mikey.

"Okay. But remember this the next time your mouth runs away with you- I hear you speak to Aarien like you did before, ever again, and I'll ask her to marry me after I kick your ass six ways from Sunday." Mikey said and then screamed and ducked when Don came up out of his bed with a feral sound as the cell he'd been holding in his hand hit the wall just next to Mikey's head.

_Bastard! _Don thought as he bared his teeth. The next time Mikey so much as joked about marrying Aarien, he was going to break his jaw.


	18. Chapter 18

Mikey walked out of the lab a short time later, shaking his head. Man oh man, who knew that Don would fall so hard for Aarien? But then Mikey supposed that Dons reaction to his words were understandable since his bond with her was stronger. Still...

"Man, I almost wet myself." Mikey muttered as he made a beeline for the kitchen only to be stopped when Splinter called his name. Sighing he went to see what his father wanted and paused for a brief moment outside of Splinter's room when he saw Raph leaning his shoulder against the doorframe looking irritated as usual.

"What's up Master Splinter? You need something?" Mikey asked as he peeked inside the cozy, clean, japanese style room.

Splinter sat in the middle of the room next to an open chest, seeming to be studying several colorful bolts of fabric with pretty floral designs. One was white with pink sakura designs. Another was sky blue with darker blue flowers. And the third one- It had to be the prettiest ones Mikey had ever seen before in his life.

It was a pale purple with pinkish lavender peonies on it.

Splinter turned his head and smiled at his two curious son's then said, "I need help picking out the fabric for your future sister's wedding dress. But I like all of these colors and designs. But then I am not the one marrying Miss Rymer. What do you think Donatello would like to see his future bride in?"

Raph growled, as Mikey rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous sounding chuckle before saying, "The purple. Don will go crazy over it." Splinter looked back at the bolt of silk and slowly smiled. Yes, Donatello would like the purple one the best.

Purple was the color he wore, the color that he favored above all others.

It would look lovely on Miss Rymer. Even with her strangely colored hair. "I think you are right Michelangelo. The purple will look very fetching on Miss Rymer. I will see if I can find a pattern for a partially traditional style dress. In the meantime I will ask Mirs. O'Niel to make several pieces of clothing out of these other colors as a gift."

Mikey started to reply and tried hard not to pay any attention to the fact that he was suddenly shoved to the side by Raph whom looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip something apart as he stormed off. Rubbing the back of his neck he then turned back to Splinter whom hadn't even turned around, but obviously knew of Raph's displeasure.

"Do not worry about Raphael. I will speak with him shortly, once Miss Rymer returns from her outing with Leonardo."

Mikey hesitated for a second, feeling reluctant about raining on his father's parade before finally saying, "Master, just now when I was talking to Don, he said that Aarien was in danger."

Splinter stopped messing with the silks for a moment and tilted his head a bit so that he could look at Michelangelo from the corner of his eye then said gently, "I'm aware, my son. She spoke of her abusive family while asleep."

Mikey perked up a bit, "Her family?"

"Yes. Apparently they like to use her, and when she disobeys their wishes- they hurt her."

Mikey's baby blue eyes turned icy as his eyes narrowed behind his mask as he said, "I take it that Don doesn't know that her family is abusive- still I'm not sure that's what she's in danger from. But something has Don seriously on edge."

"_It is her family_." Splinter said with conviction as he gently put the bolts of silk back in the chest and gently closed the lid before continuing, "I can sense a creeping darkness moving this way. It's the same darkness that hangs around Miss Rymer's neck like a noose. To let even _one_ of her blood kin near her is to sentence her to certain death."

"Is that why you announced that Don will marry Aarien?" Mikey asked with a frown, confusion etched into his features. "Because there are easier ways of protecting a damsel in distress."

Splinter chuckled at his son's line of reasoning. Of course Michelangelo was right. But his son was wrong about the reasons _why_ he had said Miss Rymer would marry his third son. "I agree. There are easier ways to protect a damsel in distress. But that is not why I wish Miss Rymer to marry your brother. The reason has more to do with chemistry and what they can offer each other. Donatello is intelligent and strong, but also very understanding, gentle, caring, and passionate. Miss Rymer is very similar, though she is wounded deep down- she hides her wounds well. Those same wounds have given her an inner strength. The two will be a good match for each other."

"Yeah. I'm starting to get your point-" Mikey said with a grin as the lair door opened and Leo stepped through carrying a duffle bag and Aarien. Mikey looked over and saw that his elder brother was having a little bit of trouble and muttered an oath and quickly ran to help him before he dropped their future sister.

Reaching the landing at the top of the stairs, he quickly grabbed Aarien's unconscious body out of Leo's arms, earning a look of relief as his brother tossed down the duffle bag as Mikey asked. "What happened?"

"She just collapsed half way here..."

"Hn. She must have used what strength she had left."

"Yeah. I figured that too."

"I'll take her and put her in the guest room, she'll get more rest and be more comfortable there." Mikey said as Leo nodded his head and bent down and picked the duffle bag back up.

"I'll carry her stuff and plug up her cell charger since she'll need it when she wakes up since she'll need it tomorrow to contact her manager."


	19. Chapter 19

After putting Aarien to bed in the guest room and stuffing her duffle bag in the corner of the room out of the way so that she wouldn't trip over it, Leo made his way down the stairs to see Don while Mikey charged off to fix their injured brother a plate of food. Apparently today Mikey had decided to make his famous spaghetti and meatballs, one of Don's favorite foods. And after telling Leo about how Don had acted earlier- Mikey had decided that his brother could have some of the spaghetti, but none of the meatballs.

Instead he was going to have a side salad with whatever dressing Mikey made and he was going to damn well like it. _Or else_.

Shaking his head because he knew Don was likey to throw the side salad at Mikey in displeasure, Leo decided that maybe if he told his tense brother that Aarien was in the lair resting, then maybe he would spare their little brother's life.

He doubted Don would, but well- it was worth a try right?

Stepping into the lab he found Don sitting up on the bed, his legs dangling over the side, his bo in his hand and though his expression was carefully masked but Leo could feel the bloodlust coming from him. _So this is what Don hides under that mask of logic and civility. _Leo thought as he took a moment to center himself before asking, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

Don didn't say anything but then he didn't have too. The look he gave Leo could have wilted flowers on the spot. If there had been any in the room, that is. "Where's Aarien?" Don finally asked after a heartbeat or two of unnerving silence.

"She's resting in the guest room."

"Why?" Was Don's next question. Leo cocked his head as he walked over to his brother's bedside and sat down next to him, understanding all too well what the question had meant. _Why isn't she with me? _

"Because she's a little hurt at the moment by what you said earlier. In fact she sort of thinks your a racist. And then on the way back to the lair she suddenly collapsed-" Don jumped down from the bed and started to head for the door when Leo's hand shot out and grasped his uninjured shoulder and stopped him.

"Whoa there. This is why I told you that she was resting, so you wouldn't have to worry about her." Don turned his head slightly to look at him, his normally warm dark brown eyes, cold as ice as he said,

"I have every right to worry-" Which was true since Aarien came across as someone who was probably more defenseless than she let on. Which was part of the reason he needed to see her so badly. He wanted to assure himself that she was okay with his own two eyes. Not that he didn't trust Leo or anything it was just that well...it was difficult to put into words what he was feeling.

Even more so when he know his brothers (all of whom were unattached) were running around the lair. Pulling his shoulder free of Leo's grasp he growled, "I want to see her, then I'll rest."

Leo regarded him with a peculiar look for a moment then sighed and jumped down from the bed. "Alright Don. I'll take you to check up on Aarien- But after that you go straight to bed." Don nodded his head and stood there until Leo was right beside him, and the two started walking together. Shoulder to shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

Yo- I decided to lengthen the chapter since I'm feeling a bit better right now.

Merry Christmas everyone!

(**************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Don stood in the doorway to the bedroom Aarien was resting in, Leo's arm around his waist. Partially holding him up as he looked her over. She looked so pale in the faint light coming from the small lamp next to the bed. Her long hair damp in places and dry in others. He tried to take a step forward, but thanks to Leo being half of his support- he didn't get far.

Still it didn't stop him from trying. He simply couldn't help himself.

She was right there. And every part of his being felt this odd pull that lead to her. He didn't understand it. Didn't know what it was. He wasn't even sure what it meant. All he knew was that he couldn't fight against it. It was pointless to try.

He wanted to be near her- no, that wasn't right. He _had_ to be near her. There was simply no other choice for him. Reaching down with his good hand he lightly swatted Leo's hand. His was of trying to tell his older brother to let go.

"Your not going to fall if I let go, are you?" Leo asked. His tone worried. Don shook his head and felt Leo loosen his hold on him just a bit, experimentally letting him take a step or so farther into the room before he backed off completely.

Don slowly made his way over to the bed and with a pained groan sat on the edge. Jesus he felt like he had gone six or seven rounds with Raph while he was in one of his famous rages. Everything seemed to hurt or ache. _I hope that I'm not coming down with something. _Because if he got sick then chances were very high that Aarien would become ill as well.

Possibly from infection since his brothers knew next to nothing about patching wounds up.

Reaching out, Don gently laid his hand against the curve of Aarien's cheek and brushed his thumb along her cheek just under her eye. She made a soft sound and turned her head just a bit. Turning her face into his palm until it was partially hidden, causing Don to smile a little bit before shifting his hand and sliding it up into her silken hair.

She made another soft sound and moved under the covers, causing Don to freeze for a moment as she settled back down. Brushing her hair back a little bit, he leaned over her and gently brushed his lips across her forehead then straightened his spine and started to get up when he saw Leo still standing in the doorway with a peculiar expression on his face.

"Shut up Leo." Don growled, not wanting to hear whatever was obviously on the tip of his elder brother's tongue. Leo held his hands up and gave him an, 'I wasn't gonna say anything' look as Don slowly got up and made his way over to the door.

Now that he'd assurred himself that Aarien was fine, he'd speak to her in the morning.

Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, Leo reached out and wrapped an arm around his waist again and started to help him back to the lab.

(**************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Mikey sat at his desk surfing Youtube for something to watch when he came across something with Aarien's name attached to it and instantly felt the prickle of curiosity rearing it's head as he clicked on the small icon and blinked at the image of a twelve year old girl with wavey pinkish hair that fell down to her waist, decked out in an old west outfit complete with gun belts, guns and fake bullets.

She held a violin in one doe skin leather gloved hand and a bow in the other.

Turning up the volume a bit he grabbed his headphones and plugged them into the computer so that the roaring sound of the crowd wouldn't bother anyone as the girl lifted the instrument and tucked it under her chin as the roaring sound died down and suddenly began to play. The speakers on the stage behind her blairing, The Devil went to Georgia.

The strokes of her bow coupled with the movement of her fingers, stunned Mikey.

But not as much as her voice did when it came time to sing the lyrics.

She stepped up to the mic with the confidence that most people would kill for and started to sing, her voice in harmony with her violin. It was wonderful. Beautiful and hypnotic. It was everything that Mikey had ever envisioned of a concert and more and he couldn't help but think to himself, _So this is my soon to be sister. _

She must be afraid of nothing. God knew that if he'd been in her place- he probably would have wet himself.


	21. Chapter 21

Don didn't bother going back to the lab to rest that night. Instead against Leo's wishes he settled himself on the floor on a blanket, outside Aariens door, and made himself a little nest so that he could sleep and keep warm while at the same time keep an eye on his future bride.

And come morning when he felt the pressing need to go to the bathroom he realized...perhaps sleeping on a concrete floor hadn't been the best idea in the world.

Everything from the waist down ached!

His butt, his tail, his legs- _Well there goes my plan to crawl into bed with Aarien and apologize my tail off._ Don thought in annoyance as he shifted his weight ever so slightly, causing the blanket around him to fall away from one of his shoulders so that he could rub the sleep from his eyes as he heard the door a few feet away open to reveal Raph peeking out of his room.

Probably trying to duck Leo or something. Or so Don thought until his older brother looked down at him and scowled before asking in a sleep rough tone, "Don, what the _hell_ are you doing on the floor when your wounded?"

"I slept here." Don replied against his better judgement as he watched as Raph's scowl increased by thirty percent.

"Why?" Raph asked again in a more angry tone. Clearly knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer.

Don glanced over at the ajar door to his room where he could hear the faint sounds of Aarien still sleeping and then looked back at his brother. "Because I said something incedibly insensitive to Aarien and I need to apologize for it. Besides... As my future wife I can't just up and leave her to her own vices. What if we got attacked or something? She'd be the first person our enemies would try to take out."

Raph blinked at him for several seconds before all but shouting. "Forget her! How the fuck are you supposed to take care of her if we're attacked when you can't even-" He paused in mid rant as Don somehow managed to get up and press the dull edge of a short sword that had seemingly materialized out of thin air against his neck with his wounded arm.

All without Raph having seen him move.

Startled Raph looked at his younger brother, his expression one of disbelief as he caught the cold dead look in Don's eyes and the chilling smile on his lips. "Surprised Raph?" Don asked softly as he moved just enough to bring their faces closer to one another so that he could say in a growling tone that Raph had never heard before, "You should be." Before removing the blade from his brother's neck and stepping back and resheathing the weapon.

"I've been taking extra lessons from Splinter for the past year or so. They're lessons along the same line that you and Leo were given when we were younger."

Raph's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets as his jaw dropped open.

Don couldn't be talking about _**those**_ lessons could he? The assassination lessons that Splinter had insisted that he and Leo take. Just in case something happened to him and they would be needed to protect their brothers in his place, to keep the clan alive.

No- not Don.

Not_ I'd-rather-sit-at-my-computer-and-veg_, Don.

Not the _frigging_ pacifist of the family.

Raph couldn't believe it. He refused to believe that his little brother had put himself through that! "Oh Don..." He said as he looked at his little brother whom had taken the oppertunity to place himself between his bedroom and Raph, the short sword still in hand. Obviously not wanting Raph to disturb the woman that their father had ordered him to marry.

"How could you put yourself through such training so carelessly?" Raph asked, his heart going out to his brainy little brother. Don gave him another smile, this one different from the chilling one he'd given Raph before and replied.

"How could I not when you and Leo were such emotional wrecks for several months after completing the training? I wanted to know what was wrong and how to help you if I could. And who else could understand what you had to do than someone who did the same?"

Raph looked at him like he was about to say something else when Don silenced him with a dark look and snapped. "Don't look at me like that Raph. Unlike you _I_ always know what I'm doing so I didn't walk into the dojo blind to what was going to happen-" Then gentled his voice and said, "Besides, the skill will come in handy when I meet Aariens family. I can thank them for taking such_ good_ care of her all these years."


	22. Chapter 22

Once Don was finished with his talk with Raph he let his rather ill looking older brother skitter past him and disappear down the stairs and across the main living area, and into the living room, where he made a beeline straight for the dojo where Leo and Splinter were meditating at this time in the morning, and started shouting.

Apparently none too happy to learn that his little brother had been taught the art of assassination like he and Leo had.

But then, it wasn't Raph's choice. It never had been. Don had done what he done for the sake of his future family because he had been holding things back from his current one. Two or more years ago when he was doing tests on his blood and the blood of his brothers he had discovered that it was possible to cross breed with humans.

He'd shared the information with LH and a few other of their mutant friends in the area. Deciding that they could do with the information what they wanted. He knew already that LH was looking for a mate from among the homeless people in the city as well as the runaways that left abusive homes hoping to find something better.

And while Don wished his friend well in his endevor, he knew that LH's appearance might be a little off putting to the ladies. After all one didn't normally see an two thousand and eighty pound, eight foot alien crocodile running about.

And the fact that he was a croc would put any girl off if the alien part didn't.

Realizing that the shouting hadn't stopped yet, Don glanced back at the dojo and saw his elder brother peering out the door with a slight frown on his face before he disappeared back inside and closed the door, muffling Raph's shouting just a bit more. Which was fine with Don since Raph had been too loud to begin with.

Peering through the small crack in his bedroom door, and saw Aarien curled up on her side facing him with one arm hanging off of the bed and the covers kicked back so that they were around her waist.

Sighing softly, Don pushed open his bedroom door and silently made his way over to the bed and grasped her wrist and fixed it so that her arm was back on the bed then grabbed the covers and pulled them up away from her waist, and tucked them in around her shoulders before shuffling to the other side of the bed. And carefully climbing onto the mattress and lay down, slipping an arm under her head as he stole her pillow and put it behind his shoulders.

Oh it was good to be back in bed again. Even with Aarien hogging all the covers.

Settling himself on his shell, he closed his eyes and was more than a little bit startled when Aarien rolled over and snuggled up against his side and buried her face against his collarbone. Wrapping his arm around her automatically, he pulled her flush against his body and tried to ignore the feeling of her warm breath ghosting across his skin.

However that was easier said than done.

Especially when she suddenly rubbed her skin against his own, sending a jolt of pure lust through him. He hissed from between clenched teeth and muttered under his breath in japanese, _"Zutto issho-ni itai." I want to be with you forever... _Without realizing what he had even said as he tucked Aarien's head under his chin and closed his eyes.

Figuring that it would be okay if he got a little more rest since he was sure that she would wake him with an ear splitting scream or a slap to the face later. After all, he'd crawled in bed with her without her permission. So it was only natural for him to expect _some_ bodily harm.

Sighing again as his body settled more heavily into the mattress, he quickly stuffed the short sword under the pillow under his shoulders then wrapped his other arm around her, angling his arm so that he was palming the back of her head. His thick fingers playing with her hair.

She must have bathed before coming back to the lair because her hair felt so much softer. So much silkier to the touch that he couldn't help the soft churr that of approval that escaped him as he closed his eyes to rest.


	23. Chapter 23

Don wasn't sure how long he dozed with Aarien in his arms before the mere contact became too much for his hormones to handle. He was aroused. Painfully so, and the feel of her breasts against his plasteron was wonderful.

And the scent of her hair mixed with her hormones made it an exquisite agony for him just to breathe.

Shifting so that Aarien was laying on the mattress again, he lifted his body so that he was hovering over her as she slept and couldn't help but churr again. There was simply something about seeing her as she was now that spoke to the primitive part of his mind.

For some reason seeing her face flushed and her hair mussed made her look so sexy to him that he could barely hold himself back as he leaned down until his face was buried against her throat and rubbed his face against her skin, his lips ghosting over her pulse, making her shiver under him and let out a small breathy moan.

Excitment pulsed through his blood upon hearing the sound.

More. He needed to hear more from her.

More moans. More whimpers. _More, more, more... _Some unrational part of his mind demanded while the rational part tried to tell him to back off before he wound up with his shell in a sling. Women may love to be desired, but molested in their sleep, not so much. In fact he was pretty sure that molesting a woman in her sleep counted as an act of rape since she wasn't awake to give consent.

But that was why he wasn't going any further than this.

Brushing his lips against her pulse again while he slipped an arm under her shoulders and lifted her upper body up off of the mattress a bit as he pulled back and used his free hand to cup her cheek, he whispered, "Aarien. Aarien please wake up." His voice breaking off into a small growl at the end.

_He needed dammit! _

Though simply rubbing his face against her skin was enough for now. There was no need to rush things and get off on the wrong foot again. Besides he had enough to apologize to her for- He would not be adding this to his growing list. But most of all he needed her to realize just how badly he wanted her.

It was weird. He was a creature of science and habit yet when she had spoken to him the other night and offered to take him home, something about her had simply tugged at his heartstrings in a way that he had never experienced before.

There was simply no logical explination for it. Part of his mind and heart recognised her as his missing piece. Something that he wouldn't be walking away from easily. Not unless he was dead anyways.

He rubbed his face against her throat again, this time finally getting a reaction out of her when he pulled away. She lifted her hand to swat at him and he chuckled and caught it easily. After all, she hadn't bothered to even open her eyes to swat at him. Leaning down a little, he licked the side of her face- trying to see if that would work to wake her.

And got not even a twitch. How disappointing.

Aarien it seemed was as deep a sleeper as Raph when he was on one of his binges. But this didn't dishearten Donatello in the least since this was something he needed to know about his intended bride. And besides, it was kinda cute.

A little on the weird side but cute nevertheless.

"Aarien wake up. It's morning-" He tried again, this time shaking her body gently. She muttered something inaudible under her breath as she continued to sleep and Don sighed. Looks like he'd have to wake her the same way he and his brothers usually woke Raph...

Sweeping her hair back from the area where her neck met her shoulder, he sighed again and then leaned down and bit her. His teeth sinking into her skin gently so as not to leave any bloody marks on her skin since he doubted that she would like that much.

Aarien's eyes snapped open with a start as she cried out and tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he only held her tighter and licked at the place he had just bitten before dragging his teeth along her collar bone.

Okay, so this wasn't exactly how he and his brothers woke Raph when he refused to get up. But it was a more pleasant variation of it. For him at least. And from the soft cry of shock he had gotten just now, it sounded like Aarien enjoyed it as well. She was simply perplexed by the feelings he was bringing out in her.

She gasped and squirmed in his arms as she brought up her hands to grip his shoulders. Her body shuddering as her breathing patterns changed subtlely as she pushed against his shoulders in an effort to get him to let her go.

"Stop!" She cried in a panicked tone as her body trembled. Don lifted his head again and stared down at her for a moment before realizing that he had scared her. Muttering several oaths, he tried to regain control of himself and finally after several moments was able to speak.

"Christ Aarien, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away and scare you." He said as he let her go and moved to the farthest corner of the bed, as she flattened her back against the headboard of the bed, and stared at him wide eyed as she used one hand to rub the side of her neck where he had bitten her. Her expression one of disbelief.

"Don?"

Don didn't say anything, he merely sat at the opposit end of the bed and tried not to look at her. He took several deep breaths and slowly released them as he scrubbed his face with one hand and nearly jumped out of his shell when Aarien finally demanded, _"What the hell were you doing?" _

"I was trying to wake you up so that I could apologize for yesterday... For what I said about being human. I wanted to tell you that I have nothing against humans. And I didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome. I was just freaking out because of what my father said about us marrying and because you didn't even fight him on his order to marry. You just sat there and accepted it- And I thought, _Oh god, I can't do this to her. It isn't right or fair_."

"What if we married and somewhere down the line you decided that you wanted a human husband? Devorce isn't in our vocabulary. Do you know how difficult it would be for me to watch you leave and know that I didn't measure up to someone I don't know just because I'm a mutant and you aren't?"

Aarien blinked at him, her expression blank as she continued to rub the spot he had bitten before saying, "So in lieu of saying all that, you decided that it would be better to bite me?" She said in an slightly outraged tone.

He lifted his head and looked at her then, his dark brown eyes turning to a golden brown before he bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry about that too. I just needed to feel you, and once I did you just felt so good that I couldn't let go of you... And the bite was just to help wake you up."

She stared at him for a few more moments before replying with a softly uttered, "Ah." as she mulled over what he had said. He looked like he meant everything, but some part of her mind kept reminding her that he had been molesting her in her sleep and she wasn't sure if she could trust what he said even though he hadn't hurt her and had let go of her when she had told him too. "W-Well I'm awake now so keep your mouth to yourself."

"Alright. I'll keep my mouth and everything else to myself." Don said as he thought, _For now. _


	24. Chapter 24

After Don managed to regain some control over his hormones and Aarien used the bathroom and got dressed in some clean clothes that she had brought with her, Don then escorted her to the kitchen where the whole family had gathered to eat breakfast before early morning training.

The second the two walked in together, all talk ceased and everyone looked at Aarien then Don.

The looks on their faces all but saying that they knew he had slipped into bed with her at some point and wondered what had happened.

Aarien felt a little bit uncomfortable under such scrutiny, and was about to excuse herself and find some dark corner to hide in when Mikey picked up a plate from the counter piled high with sliced fruit lightly drizzled in something white and sugary, pancakes, bacon, eggs- sunny side up- and lightly buttered toast, and set it on the table then pulled out a chair in the middle of the table inbetween Leo and the other large turtle and two empty seats next to Splinter.

"Have a seat-" Mikey said kindly, knowing that sitting down with strangers- even ones that hadn't hurt her- couldn't be easy for her. "I fixed an extra large meal so that you can eat whatever catches your fancy." He said as he motioned for her to sit in the seat that he had just pulled out.

Putting her in the dead center of the table between everyone.

"Uh... thanks." She said nervously as she tried to give him a smile but it looked more forced than she had intended and Mikey and the others knew it. Don waited until she was seated next to Leo before taking his chair next to her and was about to ask her why she was so nervous when Mikey set a steaming mug of coffee down in front of him. Distracting him.

Then Mikey fetched two more glasses from the cabinet and then making his way over to the fridge and pulling out the milk and orange juice and poured some in both glasses and then set them down in front of Aarien before putting the stuff back in the fridge.

Aarien looked at the glasses with a curious expression on her face before looking over her shoulder at Mikey as he collected some plates and forks along with some napkins before returning to the table and setting some dishes down in front of her and then tapping her on the shoulder and telling her to get her food first.

And automatically all eyes were on her. Making the nervous feeling from before that much worse.

But she knew she needed to eat something, so she got some fruit, two eggs, four pieces of bacon and a piece of toast and then tried to tune everyone out as the others all dug in. Missing the small frown on Donatello's face as he stared at her plate.

She hadn't gotten half as much food to eat as he had expected her too. And chances were good that she wouldn't eat all of what she had either. This both worried and annoyed him though he held his tongue as Leo asked if Aarien had slept well.

She nodded her head and took a small bite of her toast. Apparently deciding to occupy herself with her food to avoid conversation.

It didn't work.

Mikey stated that he had seen some of her concerts on YouTube catching her attention in a way that small talk didn't seem too. She asked which concerts he'd seen and which songs he had liked causing Mikey to chuckle and prop himself up on an elbow as he replied. "Well the first one I saw was your Jr. High talent show. Great job picking such a fast paced song. I bet you brought the gym down with The Devil Went Down To Georgia."

Aarien smiled, "You have no idea."

"Why'd you pick that song?"

"Because my dad was in the audience and I was pissed at him. Besides, I think the song itself has a hidden meaning and I wanted to convey it to him." Mikey blinked at her and fell silent for a second then asked,

"You don't like your dad much, do you?"

"I don't like my mom, brothers or in-laws much either."

"Do you mind if I ask why-" Mikey asked tentatively as he caught Leo giving him a warning look.

"I'd prefer you didn't." Aarien said as she speared a piece of fruit and put it in her mouth and glanced up at everyone. Leo was staring at her with a sad expression on his face that matched his fathers, while Raph looked at her like she was crazy and he'd like nothing more than to crack her head open. And Mikey- he merely fell silent and didn't say much else for a while before bringing up her music again.

"You do some really cool stuff. I saw the concert where you even sang opera. Yet your voice is pitched so low. How did you manage to sing opera with such a low voice?"

Aarien gave Mikey a humorless smile and cleared her throat, automatically changing the pitch of her voice before replying, "It's a trick of the trade that not many people can do-" Mikey's jaw dropped open in shock along with Don's as she grinned at them and fixed her voice before saying, "I have what is commonly called a siren's voice. I can change the pitch, and project my voice perfectly. Because of this I have one of the most saught after voices in the world. I've gotten letters from the pope's people asking me to join them just so that I can sing for his holyness. I've also gotten letters from millionares looking for someone to entertain them. Senators, and other diplomates, even the presedent himself has come to many of my concerts."

"R-Really?" Mikey asked, not knowing what else to say. She nodded, her smile fading a little bit.

"Yeah... So what other songs did you like?"

"Hmm, let me think for a second. Desperado was cool. Especially how you dressed up as a cowgirl and showed off your shooting skills for the video. Riding a horse and shooting a gun must have been difficult."

Aarien chuckled at that. "Oh it was. I must have been thrown from the saddle half a dozen times."

"I also liked Butterfly. It had a nice melody. Not like your other stuff, it was nice and slow and the dress you wore for the video with the butterfly wings and mask were _awesome_. And you looked so pretty in it too!" Mikey said as Don elbowed him to gain his attention as Don whispered,

"You have to show me those video's." Causing Splinter to smile for the first time since the meal started as Mikey nodded his head and went on to list a few other songs before saying that his favorite was Rain because it was oriental sounding at which point Don slammed his hands down on the table and stated that he was going to buy all of her CD's, then quickly left the room.


	25. Chapter 25

A few hours later-

Don stepped out of his lab feeling a sense of satisfaction upon knowing that he had bought every one of Aarien's CD's currently available, downloaded a multitude of her music videos, and outbid someone on E-bay for the costume dress from the Butterfly video.

_Well, I'll say this about myself- I never do anything by halves. _He thought smugly as he stepped out into the living area and noted that Aarien was curled up on the farthest corner of the couch with one of Mikey's video gamers magazine's in her hands while Mikey played Halo a few feet away.

On the other side of the couch, Raph was flipping through channels and occasionally glancing at Aarien out of the corner of his eye. Don sighed knowing that trouble was brewing with his older brother. He could tell by the way he had been acting since Aarien had been brought to their home that the 'enforcer' of the family was just _dying_ for a reason to attack her.

Walking further into the room, Don went over to Aarien's side of the couch and slipped his hands under her hair and lightly gripped her shoulders as he leaned down a little bit to see what she was reading.

It was an article on the impact video games will have on the future development of the world.

It was pure nonesense to Don. But to someone like Aarien who had just discovered that mutants were real- it was probably very fascinating.

She tipped her head back to look at him for a second, and for that brief moment in time, he could feel her body tense under his hands. "Did you get what you set out to get?" She asked curiously. He smiled at her.

"Yup." _And E-bay bidder Miki-mine should be crying in his or her cheerios right now. _Don thought as he leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead. Aarien blushed up at him and quickly buried her face in the magazine again to avoid looking at him.

It was something that they would have to work on, Don supposed as he moved away from her as Mikey got killed and growled, "Dammit! Every friggin time!" at the same time Master Splinter decided to come out of his room with the dresses and shirts that he'd asked April to help him with two days ago.

It was nice what people could accomplish when they were undisturbed for several days.

And since he had already had an idea of how the clothing would look on his future daughter, he hadn't needed to measure. She may be small, but she was in no way starving. Which meant that the dresses and shirts would fit her nicely without being too loose or tight.

However the moment he opened his door and heard his youngest son swear in front of his future daughter he picked up an old bouncy ball that he used to throw at the boys when they stepped out of line since he couldn't chase them down like he used too- and threw it at Mikey's head. It hit with enough force to nearly knock his youngest son over as he growled menacingly, _"Michelangelo! You will watch your tongue when you speak in the presence of a lady!" _

Raphael, Donatello, and Aarien all turned to look at him. Their eyes wide as Mikey rubbed the sore spot on his head and glanced at his master as he made his way over to Aarien and patted her shoulder and asked, "Miss Rymer may I borrow you for a few minutes."

Aarien nodded mutely as she spied the clothes draped over one of his arms and quickly marked her place in the magazine and stood up and followed Splinter to the bathroom where he then proceeded to hand her the clothing then shove her inside and close the door with a small chuckle before calling out, "Donatello, I need you to do me a favor!"

Don walked over to the bathroom where Splinter was standing, wondering if he had accidentally locked himself out or something when Splinter said, "I want you to see something." Don frowned, not understanding what Splinter might want him to see as the elderly rat reached out and silently opened the door and then stepped back.

Don hesitated for a moment, unsure of wheather he should really peek inside. After all, Leo was unaccounted for at the moment and Aarien was _somewhere. _The last thing he wanted to do was peek and get into trouble with someone. But Splinter was standing there...staring a hole through him and making him a bit nervous.

So after taking a deep, calming breath- he gently placed one of his hands against the door and pushed it open and froze upon seeing the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen before in his life.

There in the middle of the bathroom, right under the light, stood Aarien in a lovely purple colored kimono style dress. Her odd pinkish colored hair was up in a twist at the back of her head, away from her nape. She turned to look at him with those wide pretty eyes, startled by his intrusion.

She might have said something if he hadn't have stepped into the room and closed and locked the door behind him with a strange look on his face. His dark eyes turning almost gold as he closed the distance between them.

Aarien took a subtle step back, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest, her body trembling slightly. _What was this? Why was Don in the bathrrom with her? The rat had given her the impression that she would be left alone. She didn't understand... _Don caught up to her and slipped an arm around her slender waist and pulled her up against him as she lifted a hand to slap him- he was scaring her again. Like he had that morning.

But he caught her hand before she could strike him and held it in a firm grip while he lifted it to his lips and kissed her curled fingers, her palm then the inside of her wrist. All without taking his eyes off of her face. She flushed, this time a brighter color pink as she felt him angle the arm around her waist so that his hand was resting just shy of one of her ass cheeks, causing her to stiffen and squeak in mortification before he buried his face against her throat.

His lips brushing her pulse point causing a shiver to work it's way down her spine as a soft whimper escaped her as she gripped his shoulder with her free hand when he tipped her back slightly.

_"Ahh!"_ She said in shock as he ran his tongue along the shell of her ear then nipped at it gently. Causing her to twitch in his grasp as he let go of her hand and grasped her chin, using his fingers to run along her skin as he skimmed his lips along her cheek then to her lips.

_Soft. She was so soft. _

One wrong move could damage her forever.

Her breaths were coming a little faster now. He felt them fan his skin as he leaned in and locked eyes with her. His eyes now a solid gold color, the color that indicated arousal. His mind felt clouded, as if it were drugged.

Aarien stared up into those gold eyes and felt her will to resist slipping away. Her mind was going fuzzy. Blanking out. _What's wrong with me?_ She wondered as Don leaned in a little more. Closing the space between their faces until they were just a hairs breath apart.

He tipped her head back with his fingers and closed the remaining distance. His heart thudded, his fingertips bit lightly into her skin as he touched his lips to hers. Drinking in the honey of her lips and making it his own.

Nothing had ever felt so perfect. Nothing had ever felt so right as holding this woman in his arms. Kissing her lips.

He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue past her lips as he slipped the hand tipping her head back, through her hair so that she couldn't escape his kiss or pull away unless he let her. He felt her fingernails bite into his shoulder and forearm and felt a pleasant thrill run down his spine.

What he would give to have her in his bed right now- but no, it wasn't the right time. She may be accepting of her role as his future wife but she didn't know enough about him to be his wife and be content. First she needed to know. Then and only then would he have her.

He slipped his fingers from her hair, careful not to pull it out though it must be mussed by now. And lifted his mouth and looked at her for a moment. God she was so beautiful with her face flushed and her lips swollen, she had a dazed look on her face as he slowly released her and murmured, "You look beautiful Aarien." Then quickly moved away from her and over to the door.

Unlocking and opening it almost in the same instance before he disappeared out of the room, leaving her standing there panting and holding onto the counter because she feared that her legs were too weak to support her.


	26. Chapter 26

Despite her inexperience with love or lust- Aarien managed to calm herself enough to finish trying on the clothes that the rat had given to her before redressing herself and taking her time, neatly folded everything and then lay it all aside in a small pile before letting out a small shakey breath.

God she wasn't sure she wanted to leave the room.

What if Don was waiting for her outside? What would she do then? She wondered. It wasn't like she could run away from him. He and his brothers knew every inch of this place far better than she. Not to mention that he was going to be her husband soon and probably expected a certain amount of affection from her.

Looking at herself in the mirror.

Her face still held the slightest hint of a blush, her hair was still mussed, and her lips were still swollen from that- _that_ kiss. That scary, thrilling, knee weakening, world tilting kiss.

_No amount of make-up on earth can hide this blush nor how swollen my lips are. _She thought in irritation as she reached up to let her hair back down like before and ran her slender fingers through it to cover what Donatello's fingers had done to the soft silken strands.

Tossing the hairclip onto the counter, she picked up the clothing and headed for the door suddenly feeling like she couldn't get out of the bathroom fast enough. She was having a hard time thinking about anything but Donatello and those eerie golden eyes of his. And the effect they had on her.

Pushing open the door, she looked around and saw that Donatello was nowhere in sight. And felt her heart give a small painful squeeze in her chest as she located the rat walking out of the kitchen with a small steaming cup in his hands.

He saw her and smiled happily and she felt herself reacting though her heart wasn't really in it and flushed a little more as she ducked her head shyly. Feeling overwhelmed. She wasn't sure how to proceed here. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do?

She clutched the small pile of silk clothing tightly in her arms for a moment, feeling lost as the rat quietly made his way over to her and asked, "Did they fit?" As she felt the prickling sensation of unshed tears and mutely nodded her head yes. Not trusting her voice to work at the moment as she handed the clothes back to him.

The rat gave her a strange look for a moment as he tucked the clothing under one of his arms and was about to ask her something else when she quickly muttered, "Please excuse me." And all but ran from him, leaving him standing there, staring wide eyed at her back.

Splinter tilted his head to the side as Aarien disappeared inside of Donatello's lab and wondered if perhaps he had pushed his son and future daughter too far for the moment. Donatello had left the bathroom earlier looking as if he were about to go mad. It was a look that Splinter knew well. A look that said his son's control was tedious and barely holding on.

Having Aarien in the same room with him now would end badly for them both. But then Aarien had probably run into the lab thinking it would give her privacy...not cause her to run into the source of her worries.

"Leonardo!" He called for his eldest knowing that he would be the only person that could save Aarien if Donatello was to lose what was left of his control. Something heavy dropped down from the ceiling and hit the floor a few feet away from him.

Turning Splinter used his hands to give a silent order and signed for his son to watch the lab. That if he saw Donatello begin to attack Aarien, he was to pull his brother off of her and do what he must to stop the attack and protect her.

Leo nodded his head, accepting his orders and moved stealthily away from his master and made his way towards the lab where he would slip inside and hide in the pipes over Donatello's head. This way if his brother's hormones got the best of him like Splinter seemed to think they would...he'd be able to stop him before he did anything stupid.

(********************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Don's fingertips traced the slit that held his genitals lightly and shivered while his mind tried to calm his hormones and keep them in check. For some reason he didn't feel self pleasure would be adequate for him this time. His heart simply wasn't in it. And while some part of him wanted to wait until he and Aarien were married.

He felt like an idiot for thinking such a thing.

Hell, he was an idiot. He thought somberly as he his mind replayed what had happened earlier. He was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he had more or less ravished Aarien. Probably scaring her out of her wits. But he hadn't been able to help himself.

The second he had seen her wearing his color- he had lost his cool. His blood had pumped hot in his veins and his mind had gone blank. And all he had been able to think was, **_Mine. _**

The word had gone through his mind so much that it had become a mantra.

He started to run his fingers along his slit again but stopped himself at the last moment and fisted his hand as he leaned more heavily into the back or his swivel chair. This wasn't going to work. He needed Aarien just as badly as he needed relief.

He sighed and stayed in that position for a moment or so with his eyes closed, trying to relax, when he heard a soft sound that caused his eyes to snap open and his hand to automatically go for his bo. The lab fell silent as he slowly got to his feet, pushing the chair away so that he could maneuver without it tripping him up.

He moved to the door and closed it, locking it with one of the security devices he had rigged on it and slowly scanned the room. Unsure of what had caused the noise. It could have been anything from settling metal to a mouse or rat scurrying about his lab.

The noise came again, and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to pinpoint the sound. It was so soft that it was nearly inaudible. It came again and Don froze for a moment, with his head tilted to the side a bit. Was that a sob? Was someone hiding in his lab so that they could cry? Frowning he set his bo against the wall and listened hard for the sound to come again.

Sure enough it did, this time followed by a small hiccup...coming from...behind the pile of recently salvaged stuff he had brought home. Moving over to the pile, he carefully shifted bits and pieces, noting that the crying had become softer. Almost like it was muffled behind a hand or something, and stopped moving things around when he saw the top of a pink haired head.

"Aarien?" He said without thinking as she tipped her head back to look at him. Her eyes wide in her pale tearstreaked face. She stared up at him helplessly for a moment before removing the hand that she had over her mouth and hiccuping.

"D-Don?"

Sighing he reached down and carefully scooped her up off of the cold floor and then stood holding her bridal style in his arms as she buried her face against his shoulder, embarressed. _Well this is unexpected. _She thought as he walked back over to his chair and sat back down in it and settled her in his lap, facing him so that he could ask her what was wrong.

He just hoped that her tears weren't a result of what he had done earlier.


	27. Chapter 27

Feeling the painful sensation of stitches popping in his shoulder, Don ignored the welling of blood under the bandages and gently gripped Aarien's shoulders and tried to pull her away from the crook of his neck. The feeling of her breath on his skin wasn't helping with his current condition any. In fact it was making it worse. So much so that he had almost forgotten that she was crying.

_Almost_.

It took several seconds to gather his self control and push the feelings of arousal to the back of his mind just so that he could ask, "Aarien? What happened? What's wrong?" _Why are you crying? _He wondered as he finally managed to pry her body away from his own just enough to allow any temptation he had felt before to slowly escape his grasp. Allowing him a small reprieve from the sensations coming alive within his body.

Aarien just shook her head and refused to look at him as she sobbed a little louder. Her whole body shaking under his hands with each breath she took.

"Aarien, sweetheart-" Don said gently, coaxingly, as she shook her head no again. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." He said as he loosened his grip on one of her shoulders so that he could grab one of her wrists when she lifted her head just a bit and looked at him from under her bangs.

Her forest green eyes sparkling like emeralds through her tears.

Don inhaled sharply, suddenly feeling as if he had been punched in the stomach and just stared at her. She had the most beautiful eyes. Hell, the woman herself was beautiful. So why were things so difficult?

Why couldn't she just tell him what was wrong?

Was it him? Had he scared her like he earlier thought he had? If so then he'd have to be careful about what he did with her in terms of affection. Deciding to try a small experiment he pulled her close to him without pressing her body flush against his own and simply pressed his cheek against her own.

She made a low squeaking sound and put her hands against his shell and curled her fingers around the corner of his plasteron and tried to make herself smaller by hunching her shoulders.

Don felt an jolt of pain in the region of his heart as an idea clicked in his mind. Aarien didn't know how to deal with affection. Hugs, holding hands, even little chaste kisses would cause her to fall apart like she was now. Sighing softly he shifted his hold on her so that he had one arm around her back and the other to cup her other cheek, letting her bury her face against his neck again.

"I'm sorry Aarien. I didn't know that you couldn't-"

"S-Shut up! I-It's e-embarrassing!" She said inbetween hiccups as she felt his hand shift through her hair to stroke it. She shivered and bit her lower lip, trying not to make anymore weird noises like that pathetic sounding squeak she had made a few moments ago.

Don's lips curved up in a sad smile as he continued to stroke her hair. While he tried to think of what he could say to make her feel better? That he understood how she felt? That was a lie. He didn't know how she felt.

Besides, she wouldn't really believe him anyways.

She was just stubborn that way. Just the way he liked her.

"It shouldn't be embarrassing. It isn't your fault." Don said softly. She sobbed again then did the most unexpected thing. She smacked his plasteron lightly with the flat of her hand and then pressed her face further against his neck as she felt a blush creeping up her face.

How could he know it wasn't her fault? Did he have a friggin crystal ball?

Of course it was her fault!

It had been her fault when her father and brothers had hit her. It had been her fault that her mother told her just what a horrible person she was before throwing her down the stairs... It had all been her fault.

Everything.

All of the abuse- _It. Was. All. Her. Fault. _

Don was quiet as he stroked Aarien's hair and tried to calm her down. Something about the way she was acting wasn't right. It wasn't just the fact that she didn't know how to handle affection. It went deeper than that to some unnamed unknown element. _Just what did her family do to her when she was a kid? _He wondered as she slowly started to quiet down.

Her tears didn't stop for almost an hour and by then his legs were numb from having her sit on them. Still he held her and stared out into the darkness in the farthest corner of his lab, silently vowing that he would teach her how to take the affection he would give her while also vowing to kill her family if they ever came near her again.

(*********************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Mac Rymer stood with his arms crossed, glaring down at his daughter's manager with a mean look on his face while his two sons Hal and Jack stood outside of the office so that no one could enter and bother their father.

"Well?" Mac asked as the elderly man closed the cell phone and sighed in defeat as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Mr. Rymer, but Aarien just isn't picking up."

"Then I'll take her pay check to her."

The elderly man narrowed his eyes at the other for a moment before folding his hands over his stomach and saying, "I'm sorry but that isn't possible. Aarien has every cent she makes deposited into several seperate accounts at several banks. Anyone trying to pose as her or hack the banks to get her accounts will be arrested immidiately."

"But we have permission!"

"If that were true Mr. Rymer, Aarien would have called to tell me. Now, sense we have nothing else to talk about-"

"When is Aarien's next preformance?" Mac asked, trying to hide his desperation. He and his sons needed that money dammit! They had really stepped in it this time and unless they got it, they would probibly lose their limbs or even their lives.

The elderly man behind the desk gave him a thoughtful look then said, "Sorry. She's already sold out." He didn't like this man and his two son's pushy manner. They acted like the world and everyone in it owed them something.

He hated people like them. People like this man and his son's, were monsters. They preyed on everyone and everything yet gave nothing in return. And if he were perfectly honest- he didn't want them anywhere near Aarien.

She was much too sweet a kid to suffer people like these.

"I think your lying."

"Well, I'm not. Your daughter is going to sing for the president and some of his friends so there weren't many tickets to sell to begin with." Mac growled and slammed his hands down on the elder's desk then used an arm to swipe the small stack of papers from his desk as he snarled somethign at him then turned and stomped out the door.


	28. Chapter 28

The second Mac Rymer and his two trouble making sons were gone from his office, Kennith Mac'callen smirked. Aarien had told him before that her father and brothers would come for her- he hadn't exactly believed her then but now that he knew her better and knew what they had done to her growing up- he was happy that she had set up a dummy phone and false trail just in case.

Taking his cell out of his jacket pocket he dialed her cell number and waited just in case she had her phone set to vibrate again.

(************************************************* ************************************************** ***)

"You feeling any better now?" Don asked in a whispered tone, his legs aching from having Aarien's slight weight pinning them for so long. He felt her blink against his neck and made a small irritated sound.

"I guess..." She mumbled before saying a few seconds later, "My legs are numb." Earning a slightly choked laugh from Don who's legs were also numb by this point.

"Yeah, mine too." He admitted.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't be. I knew what would likely happen once you were in my lap." Don said with a cheeky grin before asking, "Have you been able to get hold of your manager yet?"

"No. I've been letting my phone charge but I'm sure that I've gotten thirty or so voice mails from him by now."

"You should check them then." Don said lightly as he rubbed his cheek against her skin before she pulled back to look at him for a moment then sighed tiredly. He was right of course. She did need to check her phone and call Kennith. If she didn't he'd think something horrible happened to her and would call the cops. And what a pain that would be?

"You're right. I should, but I thought I'd give my phone a little bit longer to charge-"

"You can use mine if you want." Don offered as he reached for the strangely shaped object on his computer desk and picked it up and pressed it against the palm of her hand and waited for her to curl her fingers around it. "You know the number right?"

Aarien glanced at him before holding the phone up so that she could study it for a moment. The object in her hand looked like a turtle shell...and yet Don had said it was a phone... "Uh...yeah." She replied while thinking, _How does this blasted thing work? _As she turned it over several times in her hands while trying to figure out how to open it and turn it on.

Did it have a special code or button? Was it voice activated?

Finally after what must have been the fifth or sixth (cough- _tenth_- cough) time Don made a little sound in the back of his throat and took it from her and muttered, "My god woman- you call people on it. Not look at it like it might devour your hand!"

Aarien bristled slightly at his tone and snatched it from his hand after he flicked it open and glowered at him in such a waay that she reminded him of Leo or Raph when their temper was on the rise. And it made him wonder what she looked like when she was well and truely pissed about something. Did she yell? Scream? Break things? Throw punches? Did her eyes glitter like polished gems? Did her cheeks flush? Did she look embarrassed once all the anger had drained from her body?

He was suddenly feeling very curious to know these things. Very curious indeed.

Aarien was in the middle of dialing Mac's number when Don's hand shackled her wrist, stopping her from completeing the call. Earning a curious look from her as he slipped a hand around her nape and tugged her close so that he could lay a sweet but chaste kiss on her lips before letting her wrist go and asking her, "Was that okay?"

She stared at him for a moment then flushed and nodded. Of course it was okay... She just- It was- _Uh! _She needed to call Mac.

She finished dialing her manager's number and hit the green button, secretly praying that she didn't get dosed with nerve gas or something and put it to her ear and waited for Mac to pick up.

(************************************************* ***********************)

Mac had just put his cell down and let out a huffing sound when his cell rang. Making another huffing sound, he pickedd it up and checked the ID number and frowned when he noticed that it was a number that he didn't know.

Curious, he flicked it open and put the ear piece to his ear and said a tentative hello.

_"Mac. It's me, Aarien-" _

"Oh thank god Aarien, I've been calling and calling-" Mac said in relief. Apparently having the girl's father visit had rattled him more than he had initally thought.

_"I- I know Mac. I'm sorry. I was mugged the other night while walking home and have been indisposed so I couldn't check my phone." _

"You were mugged!" Mac nearly shouted in alarm, causing Aarien to hold the phone away from her ear for a second and cringe before she heard the faint sounds of rattling and rustling as Mac demanded, "What hospital are you in? Are you alright? How badly are you hurt? Tell me and I'll come to you right now!"

_"No hospital. I have some friends taking care of me. I'm not hurt bad although I did get hurt along one of my eyes. I'm going to have a scar..." _

Mac stopped his frantic searching for a note pad and sat back down with a sigh. "You're alive, that's all that matters. And if you want to take some time off I would completely understand."

_"No. I'll do the upcoming concert. The fact that I'll be scarred doesn't bother me-" _

Mac hummed and leaned back in his seat as he said, "Speaking of scarred- Your father was here just a few minutes ago with your two older brothers."

_"Ah- I see. And what did the dipshit want?"_

"You're pay check."

She was silent a moment as she looked at Don who was trying his best to look like he wasn't listening. _The little green eavsedropper. _She thought affectionately as she wound and unwound one of his mask tails around her hand before saying. _"I'm not going to bother asking if you gave it to them because I know you Mac. But they will visit again. Perhaps with weapons this time. So I want you to move your office to home for the time being and let me handle- Ah!" _No sooner than she said the word 'let me handle' Don turned his normally warm brown eyes( now pitch black with a hint of cruelty to them) to her's and gripped her hips and pulled her into him as he plucked the phone from her grasp and put it up against his ear slit and said.

_"Hello, Mac is it- I'm Aarien's fiance, Don- And I want you to follow her earlier instructions and leave the office. Do you have a place at home you can work?" _He chuckled at Mac's answer and held Aarien tight with one arm around her. Seeing as his betrothed thought to take matters into her own hands when she had other things to worry about- He and his brothers would deal with her family.

Besides...it was past time they meet.


	29. Chapter 29

_Fiance?_ _Aarien was getting married? _Mac thought as Aarien's end of the line went dead. His mind awhirl with questions. Like when had little Aarien gotten herself a man? And what sort of man was he? He had sounded angry about his future-in-laws being in town, and while Mac knew some of what had been done to Aarien when she was a kid- he didn't know every sorted detail.

Aarien's future husband Don apparently knew something of her past and he was willing to butt heads with his in-laws over what they had tried to pull in his office earlier. Mac grinned a little as he gathered what he'd need to work at home for a while and wondered if he'd get to meet the man. Maybe the next time Aarien checked in he could invite them over for dinner.

Get to know Don a little more since he'd come to think of Aarien as his own daughter.

(************************************************* ***********************************)

The second Don hung up the shell cell and glanced down at Aarien, he knew he was in trouble. The look of sheer feminine fury on her face had him quickly doing a mental check- just to make sure that all his furniture was really bolted down. Because he felt a hurricane coming on. And not the funny _oh-Mikey-tripped-over-his-own-feet-and-took-a-hund red-things-with-him_ kind.

But an honest to god, he was going to regret opening his big mouth because Aarien was going to kill him sort of hurricane.

_Easy Don. No sudden movements. Make eye contact and try not to show any fear...women can smell fear- _Don thought to himself as Aarien pushed against his shell with an angry little growl. "You should not have done that." She hissed at him causing him to totally freeze up when all he wanted was to cringe.

Was it cold in the lab? It felt cold.

No, scratch that- it felt arctic. And while he tried to resist the urge to shake in fear of what she might break over his skull, Aarien had slipped from his lap and was in his face- so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin as she bared her teeth at him in a silent snarl and then knocked him head over heels out of his chair.

Sending him crashing to the floor with a stunned expression on his face before she spat, "IDIOT!" at the top of her lungs, or what he supposed was the top of her lungs before flouncing out of the room.

Don lay on the floor for a second as Raph and Mikey and Leo appeared in his peripheral vision, each looking at him with a series of expressions ranging from amusment, astonishment, and concern as the clicking of Splinter's cane echoed in the lab before his voice was heard. "Donatello, my son, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Don answered as he tapped his blunt nails on the cement floor under him.

"How did you come to be laying on the floor? Are you ill? And Aarien seems most upset-"

"Uh, yeah, that would be my fault. Apparently I did something I shouldn't have and so she decided to knock me out of my chair." Don said, unable to hide the pride in his tone. And dare he think it..._excitment_? Was he excited by the fact that his future mate had just knocked him on his ass?

Hell yeah.

Don usually wasn't the type to let someone push him around.

In fact he wasn't the type _period_. But there was just something about having an angry woman in his face that simply turned him on. Tapping his nails against the floor again, he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood then asked, "Is Aarien upstairs?"

"In the dojo actually." Splinter said.

Don hummed and muttered, "Right, I'd forgotten that she could fight." So going to the dojo to blow off some steam wasn't that much of a stretch. He surmised as he slowly sat up with Raph and Leo's help. Once up, he bent down and pulled his chair upright as he weighed the pro's and con's of going after her before deciding to give her some time to cool off might be in his best interest.


End file.
